Social and Behavior Change Communication to Improve Adolescent Nutrition in Indonesia
By Teresa Stuart Guida
We at Rain Barrel Communications were delighted to see the article “Breaking the cycle of malnutrition starts with adolescents” in The Jakarta Post highlighting our collaboration with the Government of Indonesia and UNICEF to support efforts at improving adolescent nutrition.
“…results from the Aksi Bergizi program…showed improvement in nutrition-related perceptions and key behaviors among adolescents, such as increased iron and folic acid consumption, physical activity and healthy dietary intake. Starting this year, the Aksi Bergizi interventions are expected to be included in the national Sekolah Sehat (Healthy School) program.”
In 2018-2019, Rain Barrel led in developing a social and behaviour change communication (SBCC) strategy for adolescent nutrition that is now popularly known as Aksi Bergizi or Nutritious Actions. In consultation with schoolchildren, their families, communities and schools, we helped develop the engagement platforms for the pilot program with detailed implementation guidelines. In the short term, the aim is to empower adolescents to improve the quality and diversity of their diets and increase healthy physical activity, while sharing their positive experiences through social media, and in various school and community activities or competitions of their choice. In the long term, we hope to see their “nutritious actions” lead to healthier and more productive adults and responsible parents who raise healthy children.
The Rain Barrel team of experts was composed of Teresa Stuart, Ami Sengupta, Vida Parady and Suruchi Sood. They worked closely with UNICEF, the Ministry of Health, the Regional Centre on Food and Nutrition and secondary schoolchildren in the districts of Klaten, Central Java, and Lombok Barat, West Nusa Tenggara. (You can learn more about our work on this project here.)
In 2021, Rain Barrel is again working on an SBCC strategy with Indonesia’s Ministry of Health and UNICEF. The aim of the new project is to create wide awareness on preventing wasting among under-five children, and to increase the use of Integrated Management of Acute Malnutrition (IMAM) services in Indonesia. The RBC team is composed of Tomas Jensen, Teresa Stuart, Bridgette Bugay, and Vida Parady.
