Healthy School Canteens: Promoting the Consumption of Healthy, Diverse, and Nutritious Food for Children

Children's health significantly influences their physical and mental development into adulthood. The quality of food intake plays a crucial role in this. Therefore, it is essential to ensure access to healthy and nutritious food not only at home but also at school—a place where children spend much of their time learning and socializing.

Unfortunately, the health condition of Indonesian children still requires serious attention. According to research by the Ministry of Health in 2018, 23% of children aged 5-12 were classified as stunted (having a height lower than expected for their age), 9.2% were categorized as too thin, and 20% were classified as overweight (obesity). Additionally, the diet of Indonesian children lacks variety, being dominated by carbohydrate consumption (99.9%) and animal protein (80%). On the other hand, the consumption of milk (20.4%), vegetables (57.6%), fruit (14%), and plant-based protein (36.4%) remains very low (Hardiansyah & Sukandar, 2017). This low intake of vegetables and fruit increases the risk of various health problems.

Our Approach

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To address this issue, Rikolto, together with local partners and city governments, developed the concept of healthy school canteens. These canteens not only provide healthy and nutritious food but also create a clean and environmentally friendly canteen environment. By 2023, this initiative had been implemented in 14 schools across Surakarta, Bandung, and Denpasar, involving more than 20,000 students from elementary to junior high school levels.

Schools committed to developing healthy canteens receive guidance in establishing proper canteen mechanisms, from preparing healthy menus to the food preparation process. This training involves the entire school community, including principals, teachers, students, parents, and canteen staff. The menus are tailored to students’ preferences, which are gathered through surveys.

Beyond focusing on food, schools are also guided to improve canteen hygiene, including cooking equipment and the physical condition of the canteen. Some schools have even integrated urban farming activities into their school grounds, growing vegetables such as spinach, pak choi, and water spinach. These vegetables are used as ingredients for the canteen, while also introducing students to agriculture and fostering appreciation for their food sources.

To ensure the program's sustainability, each school is encouraged to establish policies and form healthy canteen monitoring teams. Moving forward, advocacy for replicating this initiative will continue, including through outreach with city governments to encourage more schools to adopt the healthy canteen concept. To date, 42 schools have been briefed on this program.

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Result

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The pilot schools in Denpasar and Surakarta have begun to strengthen their management. These schools have now become learning centers for others, helping to improve healthy school canteens and school food governance. They are frequently invited by various organizations to share their experiences and best practices at different events.

Several elements of the good practices implemented by the pilot schools have been replicated. This means that the pilot schools are assisting neighboring schools in enhancing their healthy canteen and food governance systems. Their influence extends through inviting neighboring schools to meetings and training sessions focused on healthy school and food environment issues. Becoming an influencer for nearby schools is part of their role as Sekolah Penggerak (mover school), a key initiative of the Ministry of Education.

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