IPB boosts diet of its malnourished students

IPB boosts diet of its malnourished students

Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, Bogor

Media reports on dietary deficiencies have focused on infants and
elementary students from low-income families.

The Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB), however, introduced
a program in 2001 to improve the quality of its students' diets
as it was suspected that many new arrivals to the school were
undernourished.

This academic year there are 68 students with acute anemia,
said the head of the university's medical center, Sri Budiarti.

"The fact that there are 68 students with anemia and dozens of
others with infectious diseases means that undernourishment and
poor sanitation are a major problem in many regions of the
country," she said on Monday.

She added that many freshmen had chicken pox or suffered skin
and respiratory infection diseases, while 66 students this year
had a condition called proteinuria, a kidney malfunction caused
by the poor quality of drinking water in their homes.

This year, the IPB received some 2,868 students from all over
the country, including one Japanese student, two Malaysians and
one student from Timor Leste.

"The foreign students have perfect health," Sri said.

All new students are housed in dormitories for one year and
required to undergo a thorough medical check up.

Students with anemia receive additional food and vitamins,
while students with respiratory infections are quarantined in the
dormitory for two months before being allowed to join classes.

"We are not only curing them from the diseases but we're
teaching them how to take care of themselves and to change their
lifestyle and diet as well to improve the sanitation of their
homes," Sri said.

According to rector Ahmad Amsori Matjik, 40 percent of 13,000
IPB students come from middle- to lower-income families.

"We cannot ignore their health condition ... only high
achievers at school can enter the university," he said.

The university allocates Rp 2 billion per year for the medical
center to provide the free health programs for the students.