Stunting is a condition of failure to thrive in children under-five years which is caused by persistent malnutrition and repeated infections. Stunting could lead to child mortality, illness, and disability. Reducing stunting is a success indicator of the 2.2 SDGs’ goal to end all forms of malnutrition including stunting and wasting.  Referring to "The Conceptual Framework of the Determinants of Child Undernutrition", stunting prevention efforts in Indonesia are concentrated on addressing the direct and indirect causes of nutritional issues. For two decades, stunting prevention programs and policies have succeeded to decrease the prevalence trend. However, the result was still under the annual target of 3.7%. According to Basic Health Research (RISKESDAS), around 37.2% of Indonesian toddlers were stunted in 2013, and then decreased to 30.1% in 2018. And, the number decreased to 24.4% in 2021 based on the Indonesian Nutrition Status Survey (SSGI). Nevertheless, anaemia during pregnancy, which is directly linked to stunting, affects about 22.6% of neonatal in Indonesia. Challenges in reducing stunting include the inequalities between regions and population groups with a diversity of social, economic and cultural backgrounds. This article discusses the challenges faced by the central and local governments in Indonesia to reduce stunting among children under-five years in achieving the SDGs using published secondary data. Data include RISKESDAS 2013 and 2018, SSGI 2021, policy documents, previous studies, and other pertinent documents. This study is expected to provide inputs for the management programs of reducing stunting using an approach that is tailored to the communities’ socio-economic and cultural characteristics.

Keywords: Stunting, children under-five years, challenges of SDGs targets, socio-economic inequalities, cultural diversity.