Ministry Strengthens Free Nutritious Meal Programme for Vulnerable Groups with Family Support Teams
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Population and Family Development (Kemendukbangga)/BKKBN is strengthening the implementation of the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) Programme for pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and toddlers (3B) with the support of Family Support Teams (TPK).
Minister of Population and Family Development/Head of BKKBN Wihaji stated on Friday that the number of beneficiaries in the 3B group has now reached 9.9 million individuals, comprising 911,000 pregnant women, 2.2 million breastfeeding mothers, and approximately 6 million toddlers. “This is a significant achievement in efforts to strengthen nutritional intervention for the groups most in need,” he said.
Wihaji noted that this coverage of beneficiaries was made possible by the support of more than 122,000 TPKs. He explained that the TPKs have been assisting with the direct distribution of MBG to the 3B targets and ensuring that the food provided is genuinely consumed by the beneficiaries in accordance with its nutritional value.
Beyond organising the beneficiary list, the Ministry is also pushing for the arrangement of MBG services in frontier, outermost, and underdeveloped (3T) regions. To address distribution challenges in these areas, the Ministry is proposing the utilisation of the Healthy Children’s Kitchen to Overcome Stunting (DAHSAT) programme as an alternative service model. “For the 3T regions, I believe we have previously discussed solutions using other schemes. We have what is called DAHSAT, or the Healthy Children’s Kitchen to Overcome Stunting,” Wihaji explained.
The use of DAHSAT is considered a community-based alternative for providing nutritious food that has already been running in various regions. This programme also supports the implementation of MBG in areas with limited access and infrastructure, ensuring that the most vulnerable groups, particularly the 3B targets in 3T regions, receive optimal benefits.
Meanwhile, Head of the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) Nanik S. Deyang explained that the agency is currently restructuring and refocusing the MBG Programme to better target beneficiaries by prioritising the 3B group and 3T regions. The 3B group is a priority because nutritional intervention is most effective from pregnancy through to elementary school age. “I have actually discussed this with professors, and the intervention is indeed from one month of gestation up to nine years of age or until elementary school,” Nanik said.
Furthermore, she added, BGN’s current focus is on 3T areas, ensuring that the 63 million beneficiaries are of high quality and truly belong to the 3B and 3T categories. In addition to refocusing beneficiaries, BGN is also encouraging the use of existing community facilities to accelerate the expansion of MBG services in regions that are still lagging behind. The government continues to employ a collaborative approach by utilising available facilities and support from various parties to speed up the expansion of MBG services without relying entirely on new infrastructure development through the state budget (APBN).