Jakarta, hitclubapk3 Indonesia
—
Head of the National Nutrition Agency, Dadan Hindayana, said that the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) program initiated by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto had become a strategic step to prevent stunting among children from poor families.
“President Prabowo Subianto often refers to nutritious eating as a strategic step. Why is that? Because Indonesia’s population is still growing at 6 people per minute, 3 million per year, and will continue to grow to reach 324 million in 2045,” said Dadan at the Leadership Forum event ‘Nutritious Eating for the Rights of Indonesian Children’, Thursday (18/12) evening.
Dadan said that based on statistical data, the majority of Indonesian children grow up from households with an average of 9 years of parental education (junior high school).Specifically in three large provinces: West Java 8.8 years, Central Java 8.01 years, East Java 8.11 years.This means that families in the three provinces have an average of elementary school graduates.
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“That’s what produces a family of more than 2.5. Because the figure for poor households is 4.78. That means if there is one mother, one father, the average number of children is 2.78. So if there are 100 poor families, that’s 78 families with three children, 22 families with two children,” said Dadan.
Dadan further said that if poor and vulnerable families were combined, the number of household members would be 2.56.This means that if there are 100 families with a combination of poor and poor class, then 56 families have three children and 44 families have two children.
“That’s why it’s not surprising that when we intervene, 60 percent of the children don’t have access to a balanced nutritional menu. 60 percent of the children also almost never drink milk because they can’t afford milk,” said Dadan.
“Therefore, the Indonesian government is here to give these children the right to receive a nutritionally balanced menu,” he continued.
Dadan said the MBG program targets fulfilling the nutritional rights of children starting from the womb, pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, toddlers, PAUD to high school students, Islamic boarding school students, and other religious schools.
The MBG program, called Dadan, hopes to create a smart future generation because their nutritional needs are met at two crucial points in life.
“There are two important points in life. The first important point is 1000 days of life. Therefore, we comb pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, toddlers, to prevent stunting and produce maximum brain development so that they are born with above average intelligence,” said Dadan.
Meanwhile, for the second important point, Dadan mentioned the moment when children grow from 8 to 18 years, which is important to produce extraordinary physical growth.With appropriate nutritional interventions in these two crucial phases, Dadan emphasizes the long-term benefits of the program.
“It is hoped that this program will produce a smart future generation of Indonesians because in the first 1000 days we intervene, then they will grow physically to the maximum so that a generation that is smart and physically strong will be produced,” said Dadan.
(kna/har)
