FPIK IPB 55th Dies Natalis, Preventing Stunting by Consuming Fish
As a form of concern to the society, Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences, Bogor Agricultural University (FPIK-IPB) held a talk show themed “Let’s eat fish!” an effort to prevent and decrease the stunting rate in Indonesia. The talk show, held in Sumardi Sastrausumah, IPB Dramaga Campus, Bogor (15/11), was conducted in order to celebrate FPIK IPB 55th Dies Natalis.
Dean of the Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences, Dr. Ir. Luky Adrianto, M.Sc, said that we had to improve the food quality that we consumed, including the quality of the protein intake. Society, including children, pregnant women, and elderlies, were advised to consume fish daily to become healthy and smart.
“Let’s support Indonesian children to grow healthy and smart, give them healthy food like fish, vegetables, and milk. Make them an intellectual generation for a bright future,” he said.
According to the explanation from the professor of the Department of Community Nutrition, Faculty of Human Ecology (Fema) IPB, Prof. Dr. Hardinsyah, MS, fish contains protein that has a very high digestibility. The protein content in fish is relatively high, which is 14% – 27% per 100 gram of fish meat.
“The benefit of consuming fish especially for growth and pregnancy period is optimizing brain performance to focus or concentrate, respond, memorize, so the performance will increase maximally,” he said.
He also added that fish could also elevate the intelligence of children and even babies in the womb because fish contained many high-quality proteins like Omega-3 and contained good fat and nitrogen that were essential in the growth of brain cells.
For the adults, both women and men, consuming fish can lower the risks of many diseases such as coronary heart disease, stroke, asthma, eyes and brain function degeneration, diabetes, and Alzheimer.
“Fish has many advantages from nutrition side and is beneficial for the health. Because of that, habituating fish consumption, in the context of balanced nutrition, is important for intelligence, health, especially to prevent stunting,” he added.
Meanwhile, an expert from the Department of Aquatic Product Technology, FPIK IPB, Dr. Wini Trilaksani said that stunting could be prevented by fulfilling the nutrition needs that were balanced and adequate. “For pregnant women, do increase the consumption of fish, vegetables, fruits, and milk, as for babies, breastfeed them until they are 6 months old, then monitor their growth in posyandu and increase the access for clean water and sanitation facility,” she explained.
Other speakers that were attending the event were Director of Development of Early Childhood Education (PAUD), Dr. Muhammad Hasbi. Also, the event was attended by Head of Alumni Association FPIK IPB, Ir. Abdul Aziz, MBA, lecturers, students, and PAUD groups from district and city of Bogor. (CN)
