Fulfilling Children's Nutrition Needs, Menu Variation In One Portion Needs Attention

JAKARTA - Variation of the menu in the free lunch program is considered sufficient to meet children's nutrition and nutrition.

This was said by Professor of Food and Nutrition from the Bogor Agricultural Institute Prof. Dr. Ali Khomsan MS.

"Each food commodity will complement one nutrition to another, so the variety of menus consists of staple foods, side dishes, vegetables and fruit will definitely be useful in filling the free nutritious eating program," said Prof. Ali as quoted by Antara.

Ali said the variety of menus ranging from vegetables, side dishes and staple foods would complement the inequality of amino acids from one commodity. Some nutrients are also important to fulfill brain formation such as fatty acids and omega 3.

However, it is reminded that every free nutritious lunch menu also pays attention to the variation of animal side dishes to prevent malnutrition due to anemia that often occurs in school-age children.

"In school-age children, what actually needs to be watched out for for malnutrition is anemia, and this often happens because the lack of iron and iron sources are actually animal side dishes," he said.

In addition to animal side dishes, it is better for children to consume lots of vegetables to meet the needs of fiber, vitamins and minerals.

Ali said, all vegetables have their own advantages, but if you want to increase iron and vitamin C, you can consume vegetables such as spinach and kale.

Meanwhile, cabbage or mustard is not prominent in nutritional content but has anti-carcinogen substances or anti-cancer substances.

He recommends consuming three servings of vegetables and two servings of fruit side by side with other nutritional intakes. Ali also said that children need to be familiar with getting to know various foods at home so that children can enjoy food variations and are not picky.

"Children who like to be picky about food will experience conditions that cannot include food in varying positions or portions, and this must be overcome from an early age by parents who have small children to learn to introduce varied foods," said Ali.

The introduction of side dishes such as chicken, meat, and eggs must be formed from an early age so that when they grow and age grow up they do not cause problems with the variety of foods.