TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The head of the Indonesian National Nutrition Agency (BGN), Dadan Hindayana, targets the Free Meal program, or the Free Nutritious Meal (MBG) program, to cover 82.9 million people in 2027. "Our target for 2027 includes 82.9 million people. In December 2024, we will start the pilot project from Sabang to Merauke, in January 2025 we will implement the program massively, starting from 923 points," he said in Jakarta, Monday, November 25, 2024.

He explained that these points will continue to grow to 2,000 points in April 2024, then to 5,000 points in July-August, and are expected to reach 82.9 million targets by 2027.

"We have also developed service unit bases in regions with one unit serving 3,000 targets," he said.

For your information, the initial targets of the Free Nutritious Meal program consist of students ranging from early childhood education to high school, both public and private, toddlers, pregnant women, and nursing mothers. This program will be effectively implemented starting from January 2, 2025, with a budget of Rp71 trillion.

Dadan had previously also explained the reasons why Free Nutritious Meals must be provided up to high school age. "There is a critical point in the child's development, which is in the 8-17 age group, if we do not intervene properly during this second period, muscle growth will remain suboptimal," he said.

He mentioned that during junior high school to high school age, many still have misconceptions about diet, whereas in reality, nutritious meals are very necessary for brain and muscle development at that age.

"Many argue that only the first 1,000 days, or until elementary school age, are enough, but we believe intervention is necessary up to high school," he said.

Dadan also mentioned that the first critical point that needs to be addressed is the first 1,000 days of life (0-2 years old) to prevent stunting. Therefore, the Free Nutritious Meal target also includes pregnant women, nursing mothers, and toddlers.

Editor's Choice: Free Meal Program to Run in 932 Locations: Nutrition Agency

Click here to get the latest news updates from Tempo on Google News