“Life-cycle approaches are vital to ensure every age group receives the right interventions and education,” said Head of the Nutrition Working Team at the Health Ministry Yuni Zahraini, during a nutrition program evaluation and strengthening session held by the Provincial Health Office in Sorong on Tuesday.
She highlighted the importance of using visual education tools such as healthy eating plates, food portion guides, and other aids at community health posts and schools.
According to her, interventions should be integrated and sustained across all stages of life.
“Nutrition improvements must begin early, even from pregnancy,” she emphasized.
Yuni also underlined the strategic role of village funds in supporting supplementary feeding programs at community health posts, which have been widely recognized as best practices.
“We appreciate village leaders who have allocated village funds for nutrition programs. This is a concrete example of how local governments can contribute to improving nutrition,” she said.
She further encouraged the use of nutritious local foods such as mung bean porridge or chicken porridge with vegetables, which are easier to accept and aligned with local traditions.
Meanwhile, Head of the Southwest Papua Health Office Naomi Netty Howai said nutrition improvement remains a priority in the province’s health development agenda.
“We are committed to ensuring targeted and data-driven interventions,” she noted, adding that central government support and cross-sector collaboration are essential to achieve quality nutrition outcomes.
As part of this commitment, the provincial government has launched the First 1,000 Days of Life program to meet the nutritional needs of infants, toddlers, and pregnant women in preparation for Indonesia’s Golden Generation in 2045.
“We have allocated IDR 3.3 billion for each district and city to support the implementation of this program,” Naomi explained.
She said the results of monitoring and evaluation will guide follow-up actions to strengthen program implementation across six regions.
She expressed hope that the three-day session from August 18–20, 2025, would encourage local health workers to improve results in a faster, more accurate, and sustainable manner.
“We want to ensure all nutrition programs deliver real impact for society and help build a healthy, intelligent, and high-quality generation of Indonesians,” Naomi said.
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Translator: Primayanti
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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