VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Reducing stunting is a national priority. According to UNICEF, stunting happens when a baby is nutrient-deficient in the first two years of their lives, the mother lacks of nutrition during pregnancy, and bad sanitation. To help the government in reducing stunting, five students of Gadjah Mada University (UGM) made a snack bar from moringa leaves.

The moringa-based snack bar is also mixed with nuts, such as edamame and peanuts.  The idea of making a snack bar from moringa leaves came from student community service activities in Wonodri Village, Semarang, Central Java. In this village, moringa leaves are abundant, but are less able to be processed by the local community. The UGM student team then presented an innovation in making a snack bar from moringa so that the community can maximize the potential of the resources they have to solve the problem of stunting. Especially for pregnant women, moringa leaves can prevent stunting in babies because they are rich in important nutrients such as vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, protein, and iron.

The student team made processed foods in the form of brownies and dry snack bars. The ingredients needed include wheat flour, honey as a sweetener, moringa leaves, peanuts, and edamame as an additional source of nutrition and to provide a crunchy texture to the food. Peanuts and edamame contain folic acid and iron which support fetal strengthening so that it can prevent stunting in babies born.