Indonesia
Frisian Flag Stunted Infant Prevention Campaign
2015 is the deadline of Millenium Development Goals (MDGs), yet the government is still fall behind the target of dealing with malnutrition infants. The fact is, it can cause the baby to suffer from stunting (short), as today’s case.
Departing from the fact, Frieland Campina – the parent company of Frisian Flag Indonesia(FFI) – is finally coming up with discussion to promote the importance of prevention and the role of vitamin D during the children’s growing state. This discussion was held in the spirit of National Nutrition Day, which is celebrated every January 25th, to re-inspire and support the Indonesian family to always pay attention to the balanced nutritional needs of Indonesian children.
According to Andrew F. Saputro, Head of Corporate Affairs Frisian Flag Indonesia, to deal with the issue, the government can’t work alone, it also takes private sectors to participate.
“This is how Frisian Flag Indonesia contributes in the effort to achieve the MDGs target. Thereby, with this discussion, it is expected that parents will start to concern about the balance nutrient intake during their golden ages (1-5) year old),” said Andrew in the opening of Media Workshop-smart discussion Frisian Flag: Tantangan Pencegahan Stunting dan Pentingnya Peranan Vitamin D dalam Masa Tumbuh Kembang Anak yang Optimal (The Challenge of Stunted Prevention and The Importance of Vitamin D During Optimal Growth and Development Stage of Children).
The discussion was attended by Dr.dr. Aman Bhakti Pulungan, Sp.A (K), an expert of endocrine and researcher of growth and dwarf genetic, Dr. Fitra Ernawati, M.Sc, researcher from Persatuan Ahli Gizi Indonesia-Indonesian Nutritionist (PERSAGI), and Moesijanti Yudiarti Endang Soekatri, MCN, Ph.D, a nutritionist.
Stunting is more than just stunted growth (short toddler), there’s a fundamental risk to be aware which is the delays of brain development and children cognitive capacity. But not every short kids are stunting,” said dr Aman Bhakti.
Other than stunting issue, the discussion also talks about the fact of Vitamin D efficiency which needs a solution. The vitamin D issue is tightly related to lifestyle matters.
Frisian Flag Indonesia’s commitment in this regard is also shown by the variety of programs designed to support the achievement of the MDG’s, such as the Archipelago Movement and Jr. NBA Presented by Frisian Flag that invites children and parents to pay attention to balanced nutrition in the form of consumption of glass of milk every day for a child, supported by regular sports activities such as playing basketball.
“In addition, Frisian Flag Indonesia as milk-based nutrition company with over than 140 years international skills, ranging from upstream (farm) to downstream (consumer) is also the soleproducer of milk with the most completed product in Indonesia, at an affordable price ,widely distributed to all ages,” Andrew adds on.
NURUL L. IRFAN
PHOTO: FRISIAN FLAG INDONESIA DOCUMENTATION (FFI)
