When the recess bell rang at SD Jatinegara Kaum 01 state elementary school in East Jakarta, students hurriedly stood up and ran to the school canteen.

The canteen was packed with excited children wearing red-and-white uniforms who had lined up for a midday snack.

Jakarta students are known for their habit of jajan (buying snacks from vendors), so the school took the initiative and started providing healthy food at its canteen.

Research conducted by the Health Ministry showed that in 2013, the prevalence of obesity among children aged 5-12 in Jakarta was a shocking 30.1 percent. The finding sparked concern among experts and parents.

Many steps have been taken by the Jakarta Health Agency and the Education Agency, such as urging schools to regulate food and beverages sold at their canteens. Each municipality has several schools that have established a so-called Healthy Canteen as a model canteen, such as SD Jatinegara Kaum 01.

The school'€™s canteen menu includes nasi kuning (turmeric rice with omelet, chicken and potato fritters) and chicken soup. For a lighter bite, the canteen also sells lemper (glutinous rice) and tempe mendoan (tempeh fried in flour and chives).

Initiated in 2012, all four vendors in the school'€™s Healthy Canteen have obtained health and safety certificates from the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM), according to teacher Rudi Mulyono.

'€œWe wanted to provide a healthy canteen with delicious food for the children so they do not jajan outside of school. God knows what those street vendors put in their food,'€ Rudi told The Jakarta Post at the school recently.

A healthy canteen, he said, was rated not only from the food'€™s ingredients but also the cooking method used and the canteen'€™s surroundings. The school makes sure the vendors do not use preservatives or MSG, and that the food is freshly cooked in a clean environment.

Rudi further explained that the school fully understood the importance of healthy food for children and was committed to providing it. However, he acknowledged that the canteen still had a long way to go because all four vendors at the canteen still sold instant noodles and served food on styrofoam plates.

'€œWe'€™re trying to slowly change the habits of both the students and the vendors. For example, by letting the vendors sell instant noodles only on designated days,'€ Rudi said.

Another healthy canteen can be found in North Jakarta'€™s SD Sunter Jaya 09, which has won numerous Healthy School and Healthy Canteen awards.

Unlike SD Jatinegara Kaum 01, vendors at SD Sunter Jaya 09 serve their food either on plastic or glass plates. Moreover, the school'€™s canteen sells instant noodles only several times a month.

One teacher, Ade, said the idea of a Healthy Canteen came after a school committee meeting in 2006 involving teachers and students'€™ parents.

'€œThe children often bought lunch from street vendors outside the school and the food was most likely unhealthy. Parents and teachers were concerned so we decided to develop a healthy canteen at school,'€ she said.

All five vendors in the canteen, she said, have participated in numerous healthy food workshops conducted by the Health Agency.

One vendor, 44-year-old Dwi Rusmini, said the vendors were taught how and where to find healthy raw ingredients and how to cook healthy food. She added that they were also taught how to keep the food and their hands clean at all times.

'€œI have a very young son myself, so I know that healthy food is important for children'€™s growth,'€ she said.

'€” JP/Dewanti A. Wardhani

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