The Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) is trying to take a more interactive approach to hygiene education in schools after years of ineffective campaigns.

In August 2007, the agency created a colorful food safety mascot, Pompi.

"By creating the mascot, we hope to get the message across to more children that hygiene is important," the director for food safety surveillance and counseling at BPOM, Azizi Nuraini Prabowo, said Tuesday.

She was speaking on the sidelines of a BPOM hygienic eating campaign at elite elementary school Al Azhar 13 in Rawamangun, East Jakarta.

The program included a 15-minute puppet performance featuring the new mascot, Pompi, a demonstration of washing hands with soap and water and a workshop for the students to create a story starring Pompi.

Thirty "child doctors" out of the school's total 770 students participated in the program.

"We are hoping these little doctors can pass the message on to their friends," said BPOM communications official, Sri Rahayu.

Aziza said previous BPOM school campaigns on hygiene were not usually completed and showed no clear results.

She hoped by becoming familiar with the BPOM mascot, children would be interested in becoming Pompi pals (Sahabat Pompi) by joining and writing articles in the soon-to-be-launched blog pompi.multiply.com.

This year, the agency is only targeting nine schools around Greater Jakarta.

When asked why BPOM chose the elite Al Azhar 13 school, Aziza said, "We have conducted previous campaigns here and the students' and school canteen's response was always good."

"It is our first attempt in using a more interactive campaign, so we prefer going to a school we know well."

Elementary school students are still BPOM's main target because, according to Aziza, there are usually many snack vendors in elementary schools. She said unhygienic foods may contain bacteria, dust, dirt and other inedible substances as well as chemicals, like formaldehyde and borax.

"This hygiene campaign for children should begin as early as possible, when the child begins eating snacks," Aziza said.

A parent of a 9-year-old student at Al Azhar 13, Tiwi, said her daughter had been washing her hands when returning home since she was 2.

Another parent, Devita, said she did not give any snack money to her children until the third grade.

"My children usually have breakfast at home and always bring bread or doughnuts for their lunch break, so they never buy any unhygienic snacks."

BPOM, which has 26 offices in provincial capitals around the archipelago, has conducted dozens of campaigns on hygiene in schools since 2002.

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