SEAMEO RECFON prepares recommendations for National Nutrition Agency regarding student nutritional needs

The Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization-Regional Centre for Food and Nutrition (SEAMEO-RECFON) is preparing recommendations for the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) regarding the nutritional status of school-aged children suffering from micronutrient deficiencies.

SEAMEO-RECFON Director Rini Sekartini stated that these findings were derived from research involving 4,292 students across 12 regencies and cities.

“From this meeting of trustees, we have, among other things, a plan for the next five years. This is one of the elements we will present to the National Nutrition Agency. These findings provide an important perspective for strengthening the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) programme and school nutrition policies; specifically, that the food provided to children must not only meet energy requirements but must also be able to address specific nutrient gaps based on age and context,” Rini said in Jakarta on Thursday.

She further explained that the research combined food intake interview methods (24-hour recall) with laboratory biomarker examinations. The study found that folate deficiency is a dominant issue among students at every educational level.

At the junior high school level, Rini noted that nutritional deficiencies were dominated by insufficient intake of folate, calcium (4lar4%), vitamin C, and zinc. Similarly, at the senior high school level, the same issues were identified: deficiencies in folate, calcium, and vitamin C.

While the research results could strengthen the implementation of the MBG programme, the organisation emphasised that the research is not an evaluation of the programme itself.

SEAMEO-RECFON Deputy Program Director Brian Sri Prahastuti stated that the research regarding nutritional deficiencies in Indonesian students was conducted several years before the implementation of the MBG programme.

“The study conducted by SEAMEO-RECFON was indeed carried out several years ago, before the Free Nutritious Meal Programme was launched by the Indonesian Government,” said Brian.

Consequently, he emphasised that the study and its results merely provide an overview of the nutritional situation of students in Indonesia.

“Our point here is that we are not conducting an evaluation of the government’s implementation of the MBG programme,” he concluded.