Feeding Profit: How Food Environments are Failing Children<\/a> found that the proportion of overweight children and adolescents aged 5 to 19 in Indonesia at least tripled between 2000 and 2022.<\/p>\nUNICEF executive director Catherine Russell attributed the trend to the growing availability of ultra-processed food, which she said was replacing fruits, vegetables and protein at a stage when proper nutrition is crucial for children\u2019s growth, cognitive development and mental health.<\/p>\n
The agency stressed that obesity increases the risk of insulin resistance and high blood pressure, while raising the likelihood of life-threatening illnesses later in life, including type-2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and certain cancers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe report warns that ultra-processed and fast foods\u2013high in sugar, refined starch, salt, unhealthy fats and additives\u2013are shaping children\u2019s diets through unhealthy food environments, rather than personal choice,\u201d Unicef said in a Sept. 9 release.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese products dominate shops and schools, while digital marketing gives the food and beverage industry powerful access to young audiences,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n
Real threat, slow action<\/strong><\/p>\nHardinsyah, a nutrition expert at IPB University in Bogor, West Java, warned that consuming large amounts of sugar could cause excessive weight gain because of the extra calories it contains.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf these surpluses are not burned off through physical activity, they are stored as fat and can lead to obesity,\u201d he said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The Health Ministry\u2019s 2023 national health survey (SKI), which polled nearly 1.2 million respondents nationwide, found that most children aged 3 to 9 consumed sugary foods and drinks more than once a day, while older groups consumed them one to six times per week.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe body certainly needs sugar. But it should be limited,\u201d Hardinsyah added.<\/p>\n
Deputy Health Minister Dante Saksono Harbuwono said last week that taxing sugary foods and beverages was necessary to tackle obesity, and revealed the government was preparing for the regulation.<\/p>\n
In June, however, the Finance Ministry\u2019s Customs and Excise Directorate announced it would postpone the long-planned sugary drinks excise, citing efforts to maximize revenue from existing sources amid declining tax collection this year.<\/p>\n
Urban challenges<\/strong><\/p>\nChildhood obesity is most prevalent in urban areas, where ultra-processed foods are readily available and children have fewer opportunities for physical activity because of shrinking open spaces. Jakarta, for instance, has one of the highest obesity rates in the country, with nearly double the national average among children aged 5 to 12.<\/p>\n
Nutritionist Tan Shot Yen stressed that ultra-processed foods were a major trigger of obesity and nutritional problems in children\u2019s growth, which in turn increases the risk of noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and metabolic syndrome.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese products are easily available, practical and inexpensive, deliberately designed to create addiction and often target middle- and low-income households,\u201d she said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Yet many parents remain unaware of the dangers. Instant noodles, frozen meals and sugary drinks are often chosen for convenience, regardless of their unhealthy levels of sugar, fat and salt.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes we just need easy meals to make, like instant noodles. We don\u2019t really mind the food labels\u201d, Sutrismo, a father of two, told The Jakarta Post from Tanjung Duren, West Jakarta.<\/p>\n
A recent Health Ministry survey found that nearly half of Indonesians admitted they were unaware of the risks posed by the unhealthy foods they regularly consumed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"September 22, 2025 JAKARTA \u2013 A surge in childhood obesity across Indonesia is raising the alarm, with experts…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":78052,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[78],"tags":[18,135,19,7088,17,2990,52524],"class_list":{"0":"post-78051","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-eire","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-ie","11":"tag-indonesia","12":"tag-ireland","13":"tag-society","14":"tag-the-jakarta-post"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78051\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}