"Schools must be able to become centers for developing a healthy living behavior for the surrounding community by emphasizing the importance of proportional nutritional intake according to students' growth and development stages," director general of early childhood education, basic education, and secondary education at the ministry, Iwan Syahril, said in a statement released by his office on Friday.
According to him, the accelerated implementation of the GSS program is being carried out to realize healthy, intelligent, and dignified students who can become high-quality successors of the nation.
Syahril said that the GSS aims to inculcate healthy physical and eating habits among students and the school community in general.
He explained that the effort to promote physical health is meant to realize healthy and fit students who are free from disease. Meanwhile, the promotion of healthy nutrition is an effort to encourage healthy eating through the consumption of food with balanced nutritional value that contains essential nutrition for the body.
"They must also reduce and/or avoid consuming food and drinks that contain dangerous ingredients to health," he added.
One of the accelerated activations of the GSS program was carried out at Baringin 22 Elementary School in Tanah Datar, West Sumatra, on February 1, 2024, which was attended by 114 elementary school and junior high school students from seven sub-districts.
The GSS program featured a healthy canteen service and promoted the consumption of nutritious food such as fruit as well as four traditional sports, namely lore, congklak, gasing, and balap karung, among other things.
Secretary of the Tanah Datar District Education Service, Januar Pempri, said that the visit from ministry officials motivated local schools to consistently implement healthy living for the school community.
"It is a rare occasion that our children get to play, chat, and eat with a rank from the ministry," he added.
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Translator: Astrid Faidlatul H, Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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