“We encourage nutritionists to monitor food sold anywhere. Indonesia has a high number of people with diabetes or elevated blood sugar, including children. We ask everyone to work together to educate the public on high-sugar foods,” Hasan said during a press conference here on Wednesday.
He noted that extremely sweet drinks and sugary snacks are often sold near schools, posing risks for children’s health.
“We ask nutrition experts to provide guidance on which foods are suitable for children and which should be avoided, especially those with excessive sugar,” he said.
Hasan stressed that such education is increasingly important as high sugar consumption in Indonesia has become alarming.
He pointed out that many sugary candies and overly sweet drinks are easily accessible, contributing to a rise in childhood diabetes and making Indonesia one of the countries with high diabetes prevalence.
“Therefore, we must provide education. I am exploring ways to ensure that high-sugar products are clearly labeled,” he added.
Chair of the Indonesian Warga Kota Forum (Fakta), Ari Subagyo Wibowo, emphasized that high-sugar labels on sugar-sweetened beverages are necessary to curb rising diabetes cases.
Fakta supports the ministry’s plan to study the implementation of “High Sugar” warning labels on packaged sweetened beverages.
A survey by Fakta and the Indonesian Dialysis Patients Community found that most of 117 kidney-failure patient respondents had Type 2 diabetes, partly triggered by excessive sugar consumption.
The International Diabetes Federation projects Indonesia’s diabetes cases to reach 20.4 million in 2024, the fifth highest globally.
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Translator: Aji, Kenzu
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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