Primary school children are one of the groups that are vulnerable to nutrition and health problems. The nutritional issues such as poor nutrition which is still high and the increasing obesity until now are significant problems in children in various countries around the world. Based on 2013 Riskesdas data, the prevalence of malnutrition in primary school-age children is still 7.7%, and obesity reaches 10.8%.
Various nutritional problems in school children will have both short and long term impacts. The growth that is not optimal, the level of intelligence, to the health status that is not optimal will have a detrimental effect. Nutrition issues in this age group need to get the most attention because children will play a role in the success of development in the future. Fulfilling the optimal nutritional needs of school-aged children is very important. It aims to determine the quality of human resources.
Poor eating patterns in children can cause poor eating habits from an early age to adulthood. The tendency for obesity in children seems to continue to develop into adulthood. Children who are obese tend to remain obese in adulthood. The problem of obesity in children is generally also accompanied by an increase in risk factors for non-communicable diseases which are likely to develop into degenerative diseases, including hypertension in adulthood.
The nutrients that need attention to the nutrition of school children are sodium and potassium. Sodium and potassium, including electrolytes, play a role in maintaining fluid and acid-base balance, and in the potential transport of cell membranes to various physiological functions in the body. Sodium-based food ingredients are abundant in salt, and its processed products, as well as industrial process food products, generally added with flavorings and preservatives. On the other hand, potassium is found in fruit, vegetables, and nuts. Epidemiological studies from almost all countries in the world showed indication of excessive and lacking of sodium intake. High sodium and low potassium play an essential role in the pathophysiology of hypertension and obesity.
School children generally spend a third of their time in school every day, and at this stage, children get more opportunities to get food from outside the house. Therefore, the school environment plays an important role in forming eating behavior in fulfilling its nutritional needs. Improving the nutritional status of school children is a shared responsibility between parents, schools and the government and requires full awareness of the children themselves. School nutrition improvement programs are developed not only to improve nutritional status, but also to shape children’s eating patterns or eating habits to consume balanced nutritional foods and are expected to become healthy eating habits in the future resulting in improved nutritional status of the community.
This study involved 155 schoolchildren aged 9-12 years at the private elementary school in Surabaya in April – October 2018. Measurements of sodium and potassium were carried out through the first morning urine collection and analyzed in the laboratory. About 23.9% of students suffered from obesity. 74% of students consumed sodium exceeds the adequacy rate, and none of the students consumed adequate potassium, only about 3.9% took potassium more than half of the recommended amount. It indicates that students’ sodium intake was relatively high, and their intake of potassium was low.
This study also evaluated students’ food intake while at school, including analysis of food supplies, student lunches, to food purchased at the school canteen. The results of the study show that energy intake from food intake while at school was 42.76% of daily needs. Compared to the standard of school nutrition, the average sodium content of a student’s school food intake was 128.7%, which exceeded the standard value, whereas potassium intake was only quarter of the standard value. This study concluded that food intake in school children contributes to the high nutritional content of sodium and low potassium nutrition.
Improving the nutritional status of school children is a shared responsibility between parents, schools and the government and requires full awareness of the children themselves. School nutrition improvement programs should be developed not only to improve nutritional status but also to form a quality children’s diet, especially by taking into account the nutritional content of sodium and potassium in children’s food intake while at school.
Author: Farapti, dr., M.Gizi
Details of this study can be viewed in our article at
https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jnme/2019/1028672/
Farapti F , Sulistyowati M , Artanti KD , Setyaningtyas SW , Sumarmi S , Mulyana B. Highlighting of Urinary Sodium and Potassium among Indonesian Children Aged 9-12 Years: The Contribution of School Food. Journal of nutrition and metabolism, 2019 (4): 1-9. doi: 10.1155 / 2019/1028672.
