The Recipe for Change: Nutrition and Care in Rural Communities
Fertile land that produces rice and vegetables doesn't necessarily guarantee the availability of a balanced, nutritious meal on the dining table every day. Limited knowledge among parents or caregivers about the importance of balanced nutrition for children is a source of nutritional problems in the remote areas of Indonesia. Cases of undernutrition continue to emerge amidst the invasion of various instant foods that displace the popularity of local food as a source of nutritious meals.
One of the steps Wahana Visi Indonesia (WVI) is taking to increase parents' or caregivers' understanding of balanced nutritious food is through the Nutrition Post (Pos Gizi). This activity is like an intensive 10-day cooking class for balanced nutritious meals. Participants are parents or caregivers of toddlers whose weight is not appropriate for their age, and who have not experienced weight gain in recent months. The trainers are local health workers and Posyandu (integrated health post) cadres.
The Nutrition Post has been implemented in various WVI-assisted areas, one of which is in Ngada Regency, East Nusa Tenggara. Participants are not always mothers as the primary caregivers of children, but other family members who also play a vital parenting role at home. For example, Oma Mari, the grandmother of a three-year-old toddler named Damianus.
Despite her advanced age, Oma Mari is still directly involved in Damianus's care. Damianus's mother works daily as a village official. With a tight schedule of a working mother, Oma Mari helps care for Damianus. Oma Mari is 62 years old now but it did not become a reason for her to keep developing her parenting style, especially regarding the provision of balanced nutritious food. While participating in the Nutrition Post, Oma Mari was very enthusiastic about joining in discussions because this program gave her new experiences.
Oma Mari always accompanied her grandson in every session of the Nutrition Post and also helped the cadres process local food ingredients into nutrient-dense foods that were appropriately measured. For 10 days, Oma Mari was directly practicing to process local food ingredients into varied menus. "While participating in the Nutrition Post class, it turned out that the menus processed were menus that me and my family ate every day," she said. Oma Mari realised that the menu that was suitable for her grandson was the family's meal menu. It turned out that her family's meal menu could be developed into a balanced nutritious menu that was beneficial for Damianus's growth and development.
Damianus also liked the food menus that were cooked during the Nutrition Post. Damianus always finished his food. On the 10th day of the Nutrition Post, the cadres weighed the children who were participants. Damianus experienced a weight gain of 200 grams, from 12.1 kg to 12.3 kg.
After the Nutrition Post was completed, Oma Mari continued to implement a balanced nutritious food menu at her home. "I am happy to learn in the Nutrition Post class even though I am elderly because, in my opinion, the knowledge about nutrient-dense menus given to children is actually in the surrounding environment, easily accessible, and without incurring costs," she said.
At home, in addition to cooking a variety of balanced nutritious menus, Oma Mari is also patient and diligent when feeding Damianus. Oma Mari also experienced the same challenges as other mothers or caregivers. Feeding a toddler who is busy exploring his surroundings is not easy. Especially when there are times when the child refuse to eat. However, Oma Mari did not give up. She still tried to ensure Damianus got enough intake every day.
Although the Nutrition Post class lasted only 10 days, the Posyandu cadres and local health workers continued to monitor. On the 30th day after the Nutrition Post, Damianus's weight was weighed again. The cheerful boy had gained weight again to 12.7 kg. When monitoring was carried out on the 60th day, Damianus's weight was 12.9 kg.
Three months or 90 days after the Nutrition Post, Posyandu cadres and health workers, in collaboration with WVI, held a celebration for toddlers who had successfully gained weight. One of them was Damianus. The results of weighing on the 90th day after the Nutrition Post, Damianus's weight had reached 13.1 kg. This means that for 90 days, Damianus managed to gain weight by 1 kg. This shows that when parents/caregivers have knowledge about balanced nutritious food and apply good care, children in the most remote villages in Indonesia can grow healthy and develop optimally.
"Thank you to WVI, Yakkestra, health workers, and cadres in the village who have provided new knowledge and experiences for me. This is really put into practice and has a good impact on my grandson. Now my grandson's appetite is better," concluded Oma Mari.
Author: Angelina Uta (Yakkestra Field Facilitator, WVI’s partner in Ngada Regency)
Editor: Mariana Kurniawati (Communication Executive)
