Jakarta, July 25 (Antara) - The level of nutritional intake or even malnutrition of people is much decided by their consumption of food and protein found in meat, including fish meat.
Hence, Biak District of Papua Province is holding a fish cooking contest to help promote the government's eat-fish program.
The government has been promoting fish consumption for the past several years through its People's Eat-Fish Movement (Gemarikan) and the establishment of Fish Consumption Enhancement Forum (Forikan), as fish is one of the best sources of nutrition.
Lack of nutrition can cause chronic malnutrition which could affect a child, resulting in stunted growth. In order to prevent chronic malnutrition, people are urged to increase their fish consumption level.
The protein in fish meat is needed to support health, particularly the growth of children. Moreover, stunted growth in Indonesia still accounts in about 27.5 percent of the population. The figure is actually a decline from 37.2 percent over the past three years.
"We continue to monitor the nutritional status over the past three years. It has dropped to 27.5 percent from 37.2 percent. Though the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) data shows 29.6 percent, yet it still shows a decline," Health Minister Nila Moeloek said at the Vice Presidential Office on Wednesday (July 12).
As part of its efforts to help promote the Gemarikan program, the Biak District government of Papua Province and the relevant ministries, notably the Ministry of State Secretariat, Ministry of Health, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry, Ministry of Tourism, and the Presidential Secretariat, are organizing a fish cooking contest in cooperation with the Femina Group, in this case, the Primarasa.co.id, a site specializing in cookery.
The government's Eat-Fish Movement should encourage families to incorporate fish in the children's daily diet to meet their nutritional intake and growth requirements.
According to Chrisma Albanjar, a special staff of the Presidential Secretariat, the cooking contest organized in Biak, Papua, is expected to promote the government's fish consumption program.
"Through a National (archipelagic) Fish Cooking Contest organized in Biak Numfor District, we hope that the awareness of the importance of fish consumption would be increased among families," Albanjar noted in Biak on Tuesday (July 25).
The Nusantara Fish Cooking Festival is termed as a Road to the Palace as it is held to select the best cook who will be invited to the Palace to cook for President Joko Widodo during the next commemorations of the 72nd anniversary of the Indonesian Independence.
Albanjar stated that the Nusantara Fish Cooking Festival is a competition that is open to all Indonesian citizens. The contest aims to find the best cook who can transform seafood into delicious and nutritious culinary delicacies.
The winner of the Nusantara Fish Cooking Contest will win a workshop "ticket" and cook for Widodo during the anniversary celebrations of Indonesia's Independence on August 17, 2017.
"Contestants will be requested to present their cooked fish menu," Albanjar noted, while referring to the fish potential of Biak Numfor.
The Biak fish cooking contest showcases the government's efforts to promote its eat-fish movement programs, in addition to the fish consumption forums established across the country. The programs are held in various regions or provinces; for example, in Yogyakarta and East Java.
The Kulon Progo District in Yogyakarta has held a fish-eating campaign because fish consumption in this region is very low. Kulon Progro Marine and Fisheries Office spokesperson Lely Marwati remarked on Sunday (July 23) that the level of fish consumption has reached 24.22 kilograms per capita per year, much lower than the national fish consumption, which reached 43 kilograms per capita per year.
"Consumption of fish in Kulon Progo is very low. Therefore, we will intensively promote the benefits of fish consumption in schools and community groups," Lely said.
Meanwhile, in Surabaya, East Java, the Forikan continues to campaign for increase in fish consumption to enhance brain development, especially in children.
"Consuming fishes improves growth and development of brain in children during the first thousand days of their lives, including the time when they are still inside the mother's womb," East Java Forikan Head, Nina Soekarwo, stated during a provincial forum in Surabaya on Tuesday (July 28).
Consuming fish can also reduce the mortality rate among mothers and babies during labor. The government encourages people to increase their fish consumption, because it contains a high level of protein. Human brain cells need high supply of protein, particularly the new born infants. The development of brain cells can be boosted by consuming fish.
After all, Indonesia's fish consumption is still considered low when compared to the consumption levels of Japanese society, which has reached up to about 80 kilograms per capita per year. Based on the report of the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry (KKP), people's fish consumption was only about 41.11 kg per capita per year in 2015.
In fact, Indonesia's per capita fish consumption has increased, compared to 29.08 kilograms in 2009 and 30.47 kilograms per annum recorded in 2010. It is expected that at the national level, fish consumption would reach 43 kilograms per capita per annum.
Therefore, for the interest of fish consumption promotion, the Forikan is set up in different parts of the country.
The KKP, along with a number of partners, has successfully established Forikan forums in 34 provinces in order to increase national fish consumption rate.
"In addition to the national level, Forikan forums are also formed at the provincial, district, municipality, and sub-district levels," Director General for Improvement of Maritime and Fisheries Product Competitiveness, Nilanto Perbowo, remarked at a National Coordination Meeting of the KKP in Jakarta last April.
Until now, Forikan forums have been established in 34 provinces, 228 districts/municipalities, and 113 sub-districts. ***4***(A014/INE/B003)
EDITED BY INE(T.A014/A/BESSR/Bustanuddin) 25-07-2017 23:14 |
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