Jakarta - National Nutrition Day which is commemorated every 25 January has always become momentum to alleviate nutritional problems in Indonesia. However, nutritional problems such as stunting, obesity, and lack of micro-nutrient consumption which results in anemia, have always been one of the main nutritional problems in Indonesia.
PT AJINOMOTO INDONESIA, as a seasoning company that cares about nutritional intake with balanced nutrition for the entire community, has also contributed to the momentum of the National Nutrition Day 2021 with the theme "Healthy Teenager with Anemia Free", which was carried out by the Directorate of Public Nutrition, Ministry of Health RI. This year, PT AJINOMOTO INDONESIA also become sponsors in the National Nutrition Day event.
One form of PT AJINOMOTO INDONESIA's contribution that has been running for 3 years to overcome children’s nutritional issues is the initiation of the School Lunch Program (SLP).
"To solve nutritional problems, PT AJINOMOTO INDONESIA takes a holistic approach. In partnership with IPB, we initiated the School Lunch Program to provide a balanced nutritional lunch for students at Islamic boarding schools in Bogor. Not only that, we also provide education about proper nutrition, PHBS (Clean and Healthy Lifestyle), and the importance of exercise. It is hoped that the moment of National Nutrition Day on January 25 will also be a reminder to all of us that child nutrition problems in Indonesia still exist. We hope that this program will not only change the nutritional status of Indonesian children for the better, but their PHBS will also be better, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic like today,” Katarina Larasati, Public Relations Manager - AJINOMOTO INDONESIA, said.
SLP has been running since 2018. Until 2020, there have been two Islamic boarding schools that have benefited from this program, namely Pondok Pesantren Darussalam & Pondok Pesantren Darul Falah, Bogor.
Dr. Rimbawan, Head of the IPB Community Nutrition Department, who also supervised the SLP activities with PT AJINOMOTO INDONESIA, explained that there is a reduction in anemia status and an increase in nutritional status in the SLP program.
"In every pesantren that receives the program, there are significant results. From the provision of lunch, the significant result is an increase in the intake of nutrients consisting of energy, protein, fat, carbohydrates, iron, and vitamin c. SLP can also increase the hemoglobin level of students, and reduce the prevalence of anemia significantly," Dr. Rimbawan said.
"The nutritional status of the students, who were originally fat, also decreased to normal after running the SLP. There were also some students who were initially underweight, but after the SLP there was an increase in their nutritional status to normal. Apart from that, SLP can also significantly increase nutrition knowledge and PHBS," he continued.
According to Dr. Rimbawan, two Islamic boarding schools that have received SLP have also found cases of skipping meals (skipping meals) several times, one of the reasons is that the food tastes bad and the variations are limited. The use of seasonings such as Masako®, Sajiku®, and SAORI® from Ajinomoto, helps improve the taste and variety of the menu, thereby reducing the incidence of skipping meals. Also, this will make children more appetizing to eat, which will result in increasing nutritional intake.
"I think fulfilling the nutritional intake of school age children is important, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. Currently we are faced with a new challenge where these students and santri carry out Study From Home (SFH). This makes the main responsibility for fulfilling the nutrition of school children rests on the parents at home, so that the nutrition education channel which was originally aimed at teachers must be changed to become parents," Dr. Rimbawan said
"This is certainly a challenge because not all families have the technological resources and the ability to use the same technology, with different network strength conditions, we must move quickly to find solutions so that nutrition education on how to fulfill nutrition for school children can reach parents by good," he continued.
With the current conditions, PT AJINOMOTO INDONESIA is committed to continue contributes to alleviating nutritional problems in Indonesia by disseminating the SLP concept to other schools. In addition, to provide new inspiration for mothers who play an important role in preparing balanced nutritious meals for their families, Dapur Umami® Online Activity will be presented, with adaptation menus in the SLP program, and demonstrated by experienced chefs.
You can watch our Dapur Umami® Online Activity on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPmFW6EVIKU
About PT AJINOMOTO INDONESIA
PT AJINOMOTO INDONESIA is a leading food seasoning producer that has colored the lives of Indonesians with high quality products and brings delicacy in every consumer's dish. With its global slogan "Eat Well, Live Well", at the age of 51, PT AJINOMOTO INDONESIA has made extraordinary achievements that mark the strength and resilience of a company that can make a major contribution to Indonesian society.