According to UNICEF Indonesia, around one in three Indonesian children under the age of five were stunted in 2019. In this middle income country, unhealthy eating patterns are one of the major causes for impaired growth among children. In the poorer neighborhoods that we work with, it is not uncommon that children don’t eat fruits and vegetables, and consume instant noodles, deep-fried snacks, or sugary drinks multiple times per day.
In response to the need to fight unnecessary stunting among children, we proposed a new series of training, focusing on the basics of nutrition, to the teachers and parents of the two public kindergartens we had been partnering with in the past two years. Because of the encouraging results of the parenting classes offered in the end of 2019, the heads of the kindergartens and the parents made special contributions to allow the new training to take place.
To help change eating patterns, we offered an experiential learning to parents concerning the need of a balanced diet. In the workshops, we shared not only the functions and benefits of each major food groups, we also invited participants to prepare simple and nutritious dishes in class using affordable ingredients bought in the local market. Parents, teachers and children were happy to learn and share food together. Even the local district official came to join us in some of the sessions. The training is still ongoing and we hope to measure in detail the impact of our training in the near future.
YPP Jakarta is proud to address critical health needs among impoverished communities rarely cared for in one of the most densely populated cities in the world. We are creating trainings that address local needs in context, and hope to develop more partnerships to strengthen our reach to more underprivileged families.