Jakarta, February 17th 2022 - National Breakfast Week which is celebrated every year on 14 – 20 February always used as a momentum to educate about the importance of breakfast in starting daily activities. PT AJINOMOTO INDONESIA Group (“Ajinomoto”) as a leading spice company that pays attention to health issues and nutritional intake, also took part in educating the caretakers at orphanages about the importance of eating a nutritious breakfast during the National Breakfast Week.
In this year's National Breakfast Week, Ajinomoto donated a nutritious breakfast in the form of Ajinomoto Bakery Danish Custard, milk, and Ajinomoto products, for the Nuruz Zaroh & Karena Kasih Orphanage, which is located in Jakarta.
According to Nutrition Lecturer at Esa Unggul University, Nazhif Gifari, S.Gz, MSi, breakfast is considered very important for children, because breakfast can provide body with the nutrients that needed for thinking, learning, and performing physical activities optimally. In daily activities body should be equipped with the important nutrients such as protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and minerals, that's why breakfast is very important. For the best studying and learning process, it’s very important for children to have breakfast before they’re starting their day. Breakfast can improve cognitive skills and increase the enthusiasm for learning and activities in children" said Nazhif. According to Nazhif, in the breakfast menu, it is also important to pay attention to the balanced nutritional content. The breakfast menu must contain sufficient sources of energy and fiber, but it is also important to pay attention to the recommendations from the Indonesian Ministry of Health (Kemenkes) regarding limiting sugar, salt, fat (GGL) intake, in order to avoid health problems such as degenerative diseases.
The latest Basic Health Research (Riskesdas) data in 2018 shows 21.8% of Indonesians are obese. It can be predicted that the number of people who are obese can reach 40% by 2030, which means that almost 1 out of every 2 adults in Indonesia will be obese. This condition must be treated immediately because obesity is associated with a few diseases, such as a higher risk of developing high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. The prevalence of non-communicable diseases in Indonesia is increasing from year to year. This implies that people must change their lifestyle to be healthier. One of the keys is to maintain a balanced nutritional intake by paying attention to the amount of sugar, salt and fat (GGL) in each dish. In line with the salt reduction program promoted by the Ministry of Health, on this occasion, Ajinomoto also promoted the “Bijak Garam” program.
Grant Senjaya, Head of Public Relations Department PT AJINOMOTO INDONESIA explained, “Salt plays an important role in giving food a delicious taste. Salt also has various benefits for the body. The benefits of salt or sodium are to maintain fluid balance in the body and play a role in maintaining nerve and muscle function. However, foods with a high salt content tend to make people overeat, leading to obesity and other diseases such as hypertension.
Recognizing the importance of a salt diet for health, Ajinomoto introduced the “Bijak Garam” campaign. The “Bijak Garam” campaign educates the public about the importance of a low-salt diet and invites Indonesian families to live healthier lives by reducing their intake or use of salt in cooking.” One of the factors that make it difficult to reduce salt in cooking is to keep the taste delicious and not bland. Ajinomoto's "Bijak Garam" campaign can be a smart solution in reducing the use of salt in every dish. To maintain a balanced taste of food, reducing the use of salt can be replaced with umami spices such as MSG.
"The importance of being wise in regulating salt intake is echoed through several initiatives, such as holding several educational events in the form of health webinars on the importance of a salt diet for the general public by inviting experts in the fields of health and nutrition, education through mass media and providing information on Bijak Garam activities on the website. www.dapurumami.com/page/bijak-garam. Let’s take care of your health, through the #bijakgaram movement," concluded Grant at the end of the conversation.