National Nutrition Day is celebrated every 28 February. It is a government agenda to socialise the National Nutrition Improvement programme. The aim is to increase public awareness of the importance of nutrition for a healthy and quality life. This is because malnutrition in toddlers can cause children to grow up with mental abnormalities or below average IQ.
Nutrition problems that Indonesia still faces include malnutrition in children under the age of five, marasmus (starvation due to lack of calories) and kwashiorkor (protein deficiency) in children.
Apart from economic inability, lack of knowledge about nutrition is also a cause of these problems. Many people still follow an inappropriate diet, both in terms of type of intake and quantity.
Therefore, to fulfil nutritional needs, it is necessary to organise a good combination of foods, as we often hear as 4 healthy 5 perfect. This concept was coined by Prof Poorwo Soedarmo who is known as the Father of Indonesian Nutrition. It consists of:
1. Staple foods, as a source of energy for the body. Foods included in this group are rich in carbohydrates, such as rice, corn, bran, potatoes, and tubers.
2. Side dishes. Serves as a building block for the body. Side dishes are foods that contain a lot of protein, such as eggs, meat, fish, and tempeh.
3. Vegetables. Serves as a regulating substance for the body. Vegetables contain many vitamins, fibre, and vegetable protein that are good for health, such as spinach, tomatoes, eggplant, and others.
4. Fruits. Serves to keep the body fresh and healthy. Apart from being rich in vitamins, fruits also contain minerals and fibre that are good for digestive health.
5. Milk, a complementary food. Milk contains protein, fat, calcium, as well as various vitamins and amino acids that are important for body growth.
