Parents hooked on kids food supplements

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Food supplements for children are selling like hot cakes in most drugstores here as many parents are convinced they are the key to guaranteeing good health for their children.

"I need them to keep my children in good health," said Sulistyawati, 32, a customer, here last Saturday.

She was buying some jamu (traditional medicinal drink) for her children at a jamu kiosk in Pasar Pramuka, East Jakarta. Sulistyawati paid Rp 5,000 (US cents 55) for a packet of the jamu, which contains 10 sachets.

"This jamu is good for my children as it gives them a good appetite. It also stops them getting worms," she said confidently, adding that her children were eight and four years old.

The junior high school graduate has been giving the jamu to her children regularly since last year after she saw it advertised on television.

On the box of the jamu that Sulistyawati bought, it is stated that it prevents colds and intestinal problems, an improves one's appetite and the quality of one's sleep.

Most producers of food supplements for children claim that the products keep children healthy and enhance their appetites. Some even claim to make children cleverer.

Several vendors in Pramuka market, East Jakarta, and Tanah Abang market, Central Jakarta --- both known as black markets for medicine here -- told The Jakarta Post separately that their sales of food supplements continued to increase.

"I can sell 20 to 50 packs of food supplements for children everyday. Before they were advertised on television, I could only sell 30 at the most," said Yanti, a medicine vendor in Tanah Abang market.

According to Yanti, most of her customers bought the jamu after their children asked for it.

However, Dr. Marius Widjajarta of the Indonesian Health Consumers' Empowerment Foundation, warned parents not to give food supplements to their children without consulting with their doctors.

"Most parents think that such food supplements are good for children. But, frankly speaking, they are not always so good," he told the Post.

Marius warned that parents must be alert for food supplements that claim to be universal panaceas or to be able to increase children's cleverness.

"It's nonsense. No food supplement or medicine can do that. It's actually a common business trick to get customers," he pointed out.

Instead of giving food supplements, Marius suggested that parents feed their children with healthy food containing natural ingredients capable of providing complete nourishment for the children.

Marius criticized the Food and Drug Control Agency (BPOM) as most of the food supplements for children had been registered with the agency even though some of them contained substances that children should not consume.

"Some products contain artificial sweeteners, such as cyclamate, and preservatives that can harm the children's health," he warned.

The BPOM, however, could not be reached for comment.