Supply trucks come and go, volunteers scramble to distribute aid, and long queues form at the communal kitchens.
Yet, amidst this frantic activity, one issue is often overlooked: the nutritional quality of the food consumed by children in emergency shelters.
Disasters do more than just force people into survival mode; they create conditions that can impact a child's health for years to come.
For those in their formative years, today's meals are not merely about satisfying hunger; they are the building blocks of their physical and cognitive development.
Chairman of the Muhammadiyah Disaster Management Center (MDMC), Budi Setiawan, witnessed this reality firsthand on the ground in Aceh Tamiang - one of the regions hardest hit by the November floods.
At the evacuation centers, he found that the food aid arriving consisted mostly of instant noodles and other processed, convenience foods, which are simply not healthy enough for growing children.
According to him, these types of food assistance are often given due to their convenience; foods with a long shelf life are easier to collect, transport, and distribute.
During emergencies, this is often viewed as the most reasonable choice. However, this one-size-fits-all approach overlooks the differing nutritional needs across age groups. Toddlers, children, adults, and older adults all receive the same types of food, despite their bodies having vastly different requirements.
Social media monitoring and field reports from volunteers show a similar trend. Food aid is dominated by instant noodles and sweetened condensed milk. While these products are easy to distribute and require minimal preparation, their nutritional content is often misunderstood.
For instance, many still use sweetened condensed milk as a milk substitute, despite having very little actual milk content and a high sugar level.
Setiawan underscored that without proper understanding, these could create unhealthy consumption habits among children.
Needs-based relief
While the impact of poor consumption is not instantly visible, health problems, including a higher risk of noncommunicable diseases, could emerge.
Attention for toddlers becomes increasingly crucial since they are not yet reached by nutritional intervention programs at schools; they fully depend on their parents' choices and the aid available at evacuation centers.
On the ground, this issue is closely linked to a lack of basic essentials. Many affected families still do not have gas canisters, stoves, or cooking utensils. Without these, even if more nutritious food is available, they have no way to prepare it.
“If they had temporary housing and cooking utensils, parents would certainly choose better food for their children. The problem is they are not available yet,” he said.
These conditions leave families with little choice but to rely on ready-to-eat meals. In situations like this, the quality of food aid and non-food support is inseparable.
According to Setiawan, many volunteers have started to address the issue with a more targeted approach. In many locations, they carried out a separate data collection for toddlers, adults, and older adults.
By using the data, they tried to set up special kitchens to prepare meals for toddlers and provide special services for vulnerable groups, even though the reach is still limited.
This step, he said, is not merely about the technical matters of the distribution process but also how aid is perceived. Solidarity should not be measured by the quantity gathered, but by its alignment with the recipients' needs.
The quality of aid
Indeed, disasters demand that all parties think quickly. Yet, even in that rush, there must be room to think ahead about the long-term impact.
Every aid package delivered determines what the children will eat from that day on, amid limited cooking facilities and few food choices in the shelters.
Many parties hope that the quality of food aid will be a central theme in collective discussions.
If aid focuses solely on convenience, children risk continuous exposure to food that fails to meet their nutritional needs.
Conversely, if the planning process takes into account the needs of vulnerable groups from the beginning, aid can help families gradually return to preparing more decent meals for their children - even while still living in shelters.
There are many simple steps that can be taken without slowing down the aid distribution process.
Food packages can be supplemented with more nutritionally balanced items, short guides on how to use instant food and condensed milk, or support through portable cooking equipment at the shelters.
Kitchens for toddler meals and specialized nutrition services can also serve as a shared learning space for both families and volunteers.
In the evacuation tents across Sumatra, amidst stacks of aid boxes and long queues for communal kitchens, children hold onto hope despite all the limitations.
The way aid is prepared and distributed today will determine whether these children receive the nutrition they need while living in shelters.
Thus, only with a more thoughtful and empathetic sense of solidarity can aid serve not only as a means of survival, but also as a bridge to a healthier and more sustainable recovery.
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Editor: Primayanti
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