Courtesy of Nutrition International

In partnership with Canada and Australia, Indonesia is on its way to improving nutrition for school-going adolescents, protecting them from anemia and helping them lead active and productive lives. Through The Right Start initiative and MITRA Youth program, Nutrition International has collaborated with the government of Indonesia to make a difference in the lives of adolescent girls in the country.

In recent years, the government of Indonesia has demonstrated its commitment to tackling health challenges, especially among adolescents, by drawing up programs at related ministries, mobilizing sources of funding, facilities and resources, advocacy and public education on nutrition improvement.

The government has placed nutrition as a priority to improve the health and wellbeing of young Indonesians by revitalizing the national weekly iron and folic acid (WIFA) supplementation program and providing iron and folic acid (IFA) tablets to adolescent girls as well as promoting education on a balanced and nutritious diet.

However, much more needs to be done to address the complex dimensions of malnutrition across different age groups.

Indonesia’s adolescent group, aged between 10 and 18 years, totals 48 million, accounting for 28 percent of the country’s estimated 260 million people. “The crucial group has a major role to play in the nation’s long-term growth and laying the foundation of progress and development in the coming years,” said Dr. Pattiselano Robert Johan, MARS, Acting Director General of the Ministry of Health, representing Health Minister Nila F. Moeloek, in a seminar on adolescent health and nutrition in Jakarta on May 15.

“One of the problems facing Indonesian adolescents is micronutrient malnutrition, with about 12 percent of adolescent boys and 23 percent of adolescent girls suffering from anemia, which is largely due to iron deficiency,” he explained.

The seminar, themed “Health and Nutrition Education: A Campaign for Tall, Smart and High Performing Generation”, was jointly organized by Nutrition International, a global organization dedicated to delivering proven nutrition interventions to those who need them most, and the Health Ministry. Around 100 adolescent female students mostly from Jakarta participated in the seminar.

As per the Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health and Well-Being, well-nourished adolescents are able to do better in school, are more active, learn better and have a brighter future as compared to undernourished ones.

Well-nourished adolescents are healthier, with stronger immune systems, making them more resistant to diseases. Being healthy enables adolescent girls, who will later become working women, to be more productive members of the workforce and thereby contribute more to the country’s economic growth.

On the other hand, undernourished adolescents are more likely to show symptoms of lethargy, exhaustion and energy deficiency. They are more prone to missing school days, aren’t able to keep up with their nourished peers in class and are more likely to do poorly in school.

Research has shown that undernourished adolescents face a higher risk of dropping out of school and miss out on attaining higher education.

Women and adolescent girls are commonly more susceptible to malnutrition, one of the most persistent barriers to development and empowerment. Physiology, gender inequality, cultural practices, education, finance and access are some major factors that make women and girls more susceptible to malnutrition. Malnutrition limits the capacity of adolescent girls to grow, learn, earn and lead, which is why it is vital to help them remain healthy with access to good nutrition and knowledge of what constitutes good food.

Unique partnership

The seminar also highlighted the unique partnership involving Canada, Australia and Indonesia to ensure better nutrition for school girls through the Right Start and MITRA Youth program.

Thousands of students of junior high schools (SMP), senior high schools (SMA) as well as junior religion-based high schools (MTs), senior religion-based high schools (MA), and senior vocational high schools (SMK) from Purwakarta and Cimahi district have reportedly benefitted from the WIFA supplementation program implemented by Nutrition International under the Right Start initiative in the schools. The program has been implemented since 2017 and will run for five years. In the coming months, students in 20 districts across 2 provinces will be provided IFA tablets through the MITRA Youth intervention. This intervention will also help to train teachers and health workers on comprehensive nutrition education and right knowledge on the need for weekly iron and folic acid supplements so that they are able to address questions and concerns of adolescent girls and their parents and also provide them with appropriate nutrition information.

Desi Pudji Rahayu, 16, and Nunik Nawang Wulan, 18, both students of SMA state senior high school 1 Pasawahan Purwakarta were present at the seminar to share their experience.

They said they used to feel weak, weary and sleepy in school and unable to concentrate on lessons prior to joining the Right Start initiative in their school.

“Since I started taking the iron and folic acid tablet routinely I have been able to focus on my study,” Desi said, adding that the program also allowed her to learn about anemia.

Nunik was of the view that the program had protected her from anemia.

At the school level, Nutrition International has not only supported training sessions to teachers, but has also conducted monitoring visits to schools to support representatives of teachers and students who were overseeing this intervention. Nutrition International has also facilitated discussions and collaborations between teachers/school principals and primary health center and district officials (from the health, education and religious sectors).

Breaking the Intergenerational impact of malnutrition

At the seminar, Peter MacArthur, Canadian ambassador to Indonesia said, “Nutrition is a development priority for Canada and a crucial element in developing our own international maternal, newborn and child health commitments, as well as achieving the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”

“Effective partnership such as this one can eliminate preventable deaths among women, children and newborns, and break the intergenerational impact of malnutrition in Indonesia,” he said.

He said the Right Start initiative, with an investment of C$1.5 million from the government of Canada, would reach women of reproductive age and adolescent girls in the country, with interventions aimed at reducing anemia, complications and deaths during pregnancy and delivery – and neural tube defects such as spina bifida in newborns.

Deputy Australian ambassador to Indonesia, Allaster Cox, said that investing in nutrition during the first 1,000 days of life and during a girl’s adolescence is crucial as the effects of poor nutrition during these periods can last a lifetime. Australia is proud to support Nutrition International and strengthen the government of Indonesia’s efforts to tackle its nutrition challenges.”

The government of Australia has invested A$2.1 million into the MITRA Youth program which will benefit adolescent girls in 1913 schools across 20 districts.

Together Right Start and MITRA Youth will reach approximately 2.95 million additional school-going adolescent girls in 55 districts in Banten, West Java, East Java and East Nusa Tenggara.

“I see this as an important investment because healthy adolescent girls with good nutrition can do better in school and also play a productive role in their country’s development,” he added.

Nutrition International’s regional director for Asia, Andrew O’Connell said, “Nutrition International is grateful to the government of Indonesia for their leadership in addressing health and nutrition for adolescent girls. We are proud to be part of this unique partnership, in which the governments of Canada and Australia are working with us to maximize resources in order to tackle an important public health issue that is preventing adolescents from reaching their full potential.”

“By joining forces and learning from each other, we are able to reach more women and adolescent girls with improved nutrition and health,” he said.

Nutrition International, he said, is very much aligned with the government program. “We support the government by developing a guideline, materials for training for trainers. We also collaborate with teachers as agents of change and also with the adolescent girls themselves,” he said.

According to O’Connell, investing in malnutrition is of importance as it not only changes lives but also has a significant economic return. “Evidence suggests that in Africa and Asia, an 11 percent boost in gross national product is achievable through the elimination of under-nutrition. In addition, scaling up nutrition interventions targeting pregnant women and young children yields a return of at least US$16 for every $1 spent,” he argued.

However, he acknowledged that the impact of the program on the beneficiaries would take time and “Nutrition International will review it every five years after the program is concluded,” he said.

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Partners for Change

This page is produced by The Jakarta Post in cooperation with Nutrition International. It promotes best practices in community partnerships. For more information, contact the Supplements & Supplemental Products section at supplement@thejakartapost.com.

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