Parents, Learn About Your Children Nutritional Needs
"Yo, come on everyone, let's go to the Posyandu every month! Yo, come on everyone, so children are healthy and get complete immunisations," exclaimed Sundari (37 years old) as she led her group in performing a jingle that focused on health education. "I'm trying to make the jingle as engaging as possible. Just five minutes long, with the same rhyme so it's easier to remember. We made this jingle so it can be used when educating mothers who will participate in the Nutrition Post (Pos Gizi) in our neighbourhood," she explained.
Sundari created this new jingle while attending a session on Identifying Positive Deviant Families. This session was part of a series of Nutrition Post training for volunteers and Posyandu cadres in Simokerto, East Java.
This Nutrition Post training involved Posyandu cadres along with volunteers from three sub-districts within the assisted area of Wahana Visi Indonesia located in Simokerto. During the Identifying Positive Deviant Families session, cadres and volunteers tried to identify several behaviours different from the general community, which were adopted by Positive Deviant Families. Positive Deviant Families exhibit different behaviours that surprisingly contribute to the nutritional intake and health of under five children. A Positive Deviant Family is a family with under five children of normal nutritional status and comes from a low-income background.
After observing how Positive Deviant Families care for and feed their children, the cadres and volunteers saw how these methods could be shared with other families. Other families can mimic the parenting, feeding, and hygiene practices of Positive Deviant Families, thus preventing and addressing nutritional problems, particularly underweight.
In addition to providing a space for cadres and volunteers to create jingles and learn about the habits of Positive Deviant Families, this training also discussed the processing of nutrient-dense, varied foods using local ingredients. Two local ingredients that Positive Deviant Families apparently utilise are moringa leaves and katuk leaves. Both of these local ingredients are widely available around the community’s neighbourhood and are free, meaning there's no need to buy them.
Besides these two types of vegetables, children from Positive Deviant Families also consistently consume protein, especially chicken eggs and freshwater fish. This is just a small part of the many good habits in the daily lives of Positive Deviant Families.
"During this training, I learned a lot about nutrient-dense menus for undernourished children. Our group learned and practiced making food menus for babies aged 6-8 months. Earlier, when we calculated it, the cost per portion was around IDR 8,000. For children aged 6-8 months, it's also recommended to pay attention to the texture that the baby can accept and to follow appropriate feeding methods. For those under one year old, it was emphasised that baby food should not contain sugar and salt. So we tried it directly," Sundari revealed.
After finishing cooking the nutrient-dense food menu, it was time for the volunteers and Posyandu cadres to learn about children's acceptance of the nutrient-dense food menu and how to feed them correctly and according to their age. "In processing the Nutrition Post menu, I am very careful about cleanliness, from preparation to processing to serving. Food storage containers, spatulas, pots, plates, and spoons must be clean. We must not let the food we make become a source of disease. We must always ensure its cleanliness. Furthermore, I can now cook easily because the menus already have Household Measures (URT), so we don't always have to weigh things. Later, in our area, we will try to use menus with these measurement that can always be remembered by mothers of toddlers," said Sundari.
The Nutrition Post training in Simokerto was successfully carried out due to a good partnership between the community, WVI, and the Faculty of Public Health Airlangga University. "I am happy with this training, as I now know that there are many nutritious and affordable food ingredients. With a price of IDR 8,000 per portion, you can already get a healthy menu that meets health standards, such as straining food for babies and not using artificial flavors. It's simple but often overlooked by parents when preparing healthy food for children," said Sundari.
She wants to share the knowledge she gained during the training with other mothers of toddlers in her neighbourhood. "After this training, I and other volunteers or cadres plan to conduct a Nutrition Post so that children who are underweight in our area can become healthy again. Hopefully, this will make the Posyandu children in my community healthier with the Nutrition Post menu. For the jingle, I am also determined for it to be used during Posyandu sessions so that other mothers can always remember it," she concluded.
Author: Gloriana Seran (MCHN Specialist for Sumatera, Java, Lombok, and West Kalimantan area)
Editor: Mariana Kurniawati (Communication Executive)
