“I have heard stories that now giving children food is not an easy thing. Maybe because there is an impact from advertising," deputy for child rights fulfillment at the Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection, Agustina Erni, said at an online event, accessed from here on Friday.
Many advertisements promote products that are not healthy for children and on average, they are high in sugar, which children love, she noted.
As a result, children tend to choose packaged foods instead of healthy and nutritious foods because they are more familiar with the taste of those packaged foods, she explained.
According to Erni, the condition has been further exacerbated by the ignorance of parents on providing proper nutrition to their children. Many parents make their children's diets the same as adults and prefer to provide food without taking its nutritional content into account, she said.
She recalled that she once met a three-year-old child in Semarang whose parents gave the child the same food that they ate.
People's lack of awareness and massive advertising of packaged products is worrying, she said adding, if the problem is not addressed, children could become addicted, their nerves could be damaged, and they could become malnourished or even, stunted.
She also expressed the hope that the Healthy Kitchen to Overcome Stunting (Dashat) program promoted by the National Population and Family Planning Agency (BKKBN) would help the country overcome those problems by providing information to mothers on balanced and nutritious food.
"Hence, family diet has become a concern. A mother's understanding of nutritious food for children is very important," she stressed.
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Translator: Hreeloita Dharma, Raka Adji
Editor: Suharto
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