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span class="caption" style="width: 398px;">Healthy: Fresh products are on display at the Organik Klub store in South Jakarta.Some people are swapping sweet loaves of bread for whole grain, and greasy takeaway for homemade organic meals.

They are a minority in a country facing the threat of degenerative diseases stemming from increasingly unhealthy eating habits, yet those change-makers are proud of their choices.

People who are Facebook friends with cake maker Ayu Noviari are accustomed to seeing her postings of recipes for such treats as fruity oatmeal porridge or whole wheat bread, as well as pictures of her, sweaty, after a workout.

The albums containing these photos are called “Menuju Sehat” (On the Way to Health) and “Resep Sehat Enak” (Delicious Healthy Recipes). They are displayed along with other albums depicting Ayu’s homemade, sugary cupcakes.

“On the Way to Health” is a health and weight-reduction program Ayu said she designed especially for herself.

“The program was my own initiative. I was obese and I wanted a healthy lifestyle that could be applied for the rest of my life,” she said.

Ayu has lost 9 kilograms since she started the program in October of last year.

One of her many inspirations was her grandmother. “[My grandmother] is 86 years old, but she still exercises three times a week… I learned that if my grandmother can do it, why can’t I?”

“On the Way to Health” follows a concept some might deem unoriginal: the combination of diet and exercise.

Ayu said the program does not require her to avoid certain substances such as fat or carbohydrates in her diet.

“I don’t avoid anything. I still consume carbohydrates, but healthy carbohydrates. I also eat healthy proteins and fats,” she said.

Her previous meals, which might have been five bowls of cornflakes in one sitting, underwent a change to homemade wheat bread, nuts and recipes involving olive oil and flaxseed. She limited her meat consumption and switched to darker chocolate and fruit for snacks.

But she is also a cake maker who decorates her cakes and cupcakes with sugary fondant icing. And, she is a self-confessed sweet lover, and said shunning sugary snacks has been one of her greatest challenges.

Santi Wibisono took sips now and then from a bottle of cold soy milk during a sweltering afternoon inside her non-air conditioned organic food store in Tebet, South Jakarta.

“I used to drink carbonated drinks, and now I’m guzzling soy milk,” she said, laughing.

What Santi termed her previous unhealthy lifestyle changed when she and her husband were forced to make her then two-year-old son follow a certain diet, free from gluten and chemicals, due to special dietary needs.

“The doctor suggested a pesticide-free, organic diet. That was the first time we had heard of it,” Santi said.

Going organic became a journey the whole family embarked on. They realized it went beyond what goes in one’s mouth, but was part of an effort to live in harmony with the environment.

In the beginning, Organik Klub was exactly what the name suggested – small outlets catering to friends who shared an interest in organic products. It served “customers” once a week by providing products from the Agatho Organic Farm.

The club evolved into prominent stores in Tebet and Pondok Indah in South Jakarta and Kayu Putih in East Jakarta.

Santi’s effort to spread the idea of eating wholesome food expanded beyond merely selling certain products. She recently began holding cooking classes for her friends who said they were too busy and couldn’t be bothered to cook and preferred buying fast food for their family to eat.

“I asked the children, ‘what’s your favorite food?’ [and they replied] ‘nuggets, sausages’…why?” she said, deploring the lack of homemade cooking in people’s lives today.

Nutrition expert Soekirman said there is a trend in people’s eating habits, which are now heading toward high energy foods that are not necessarily beneficial to long-term health.

“[The food consumed] contains carbohydrates and flour, sweet-tasting, high in fat and also salty. Those are high-energy foods. They are not balanced with other foods such as vegetables or fruits,” he told The Jakarta Post.

This kind of eating is exacerbated by a lack of exercise. “This is modernization. Even farmers now go out to their fields by ojek. Everything is automatic… Some people back then were eating food with coconut milk and plenty of rice, but they were still active,” Soekirman said.

Food that is seen as having “prestige” such as cakes are becoming more affordable due to more people producing them and selling them at lower prices, while television advertising continues for these products continues, he said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that Indonesia, as well as other countries in Southeast Asia, is facing an increase in non-communicable diseases such as cancer and diabetes.

Health Minister Endang Rahayu Sedyaningsih said such diseases accounted for 60 percent of the country’s deaths in 2007 – rising from 42 percent in 2007.

Wied Harry, author of a number of nutrition books, said organic food consumers have been increasing the last five years.

“There has yet to be an understanding of organic farming in the purest sense – only that the plants are not fertilized using synthetic chemical fertilizers and not sprayed with synthetic, chemical pesticides… the agricultural environment, such as irrigation and air, should be organic as well,” he said.

Ayu and Santi are sharing their lifestyle change with the country’s top women and men, as more high officials, and even the President himself, are embracing healthier eating habits.

In shape: Ayu’s breakfast of oatmeal, fruit and cinnamon.It was reported in May that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was following a special diet involving smaller portions and was shunning fried food. He reportedly lost 10 kilograms with the diet, which also involved eating fish, tofu and yogurt.

According to the Vice President’s spokesman, Yopie Hidayat, Vice President Boediono is also watching his portions and prefers vegetables to meat.

Coordinating People’s Welfare Minister Agung Laksono said he lost 6 kilograms in a month by reducing his portions of rice and eating dinners mainly consisting of vegetables and fruits. Health Minister Endang said she avoids processed foods.

According to Soekirman, the middle class fares the worst in the combination of affordable, unhealthy treats and the lack of physical activity.

“The upper class is well educated and there are fitness centers everywhere [for them to exercise at], but [healthy eating] is still rare,” he said.

Ayu and Sinta might not be presidents or ministers, but they are confident in the path they have chosen to benefit themselves and others.