"The Healthy Living Community Movement, or Germas, must be properly implemented to prevent various diseases, including diabetes, in both adults and children," the ministry's assistant deputy for health service improvement, Nia Reviani, stated in Jakarta, Monday.
According to Reviani, Germas encompasses several steps, including conducting physical activity, consuming a balanced nutritious diet, increasing fruit and vegetable intake, and conducting regular health checks.
"Society must strengthen the dissemination of information of a healthy lifestyle, manage a diet with balanced nutrition, maintain body weight, and most importantly, carry out physical activity or exercise regularly," she remarked.
To this end, implementation of Germas must continue to be promoted in order to increase public understanding and awareness, especially among parents, she noted.
"Parents, as the first 'home' for their children, must be able to ensure that the food consumed by their children is healthy, with nutritionally balanced food," Reviani remarked.
In addition, she stated that parents must involve their children in regular physical activity or sports.
"If necessary, parents can also ask their children to undergo health check-up for their conditions or health screenings periodically," she noted.
Reviani also stated that the government is currently continuing to raise awareness and strengthen the Germas campaign to become part of the society's culture.
This was in accordance with Presidential Instruction Number 1 of 2017 on Germas that aims to prioritize a promotive and preventive healthy paradigm in the community.
"Through the intensive dissemination of information on Germas, it is hoped that the community will become more aware of the importance of disease prevention through a healthy lifestyle," Reviani concluded.
Earlier, the Director of Non-communicable Disease handling and prevention at the Health Ministry, Eva Susanti, noted that diabetes is driven by several factors, including leading a contemporary lifestyle, with frequent consumption of foods and beverages, with excessive sugar content and lack of exercise that increased the risk of diabetes.
Excessive consumption of sugar without physical activity can trigger obesity that can lead to a host of diseases and also death. This phenomenon will affect the productive age population in Indonesia, she added.
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Translator: Wuryanti Puspitasari, Resinta S
Editor: Sri Haryati
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