Obesity Comes from Buffer Zones of Capital City

Jakarta – Deputy Minister of Health of Indonesia, Dante Saksono Harbuwono, pointed out that the population in the capital city's buffer zones is becoming a significant contributor to the rapidly growing national obesity rate.

"There has been a drastic increase in obesity cases in the community. This may be triggered by the rising income, particularly in the buffer areas, such as Tangerang, Depok, Bogor, where the obesity rate is higher than in Jakarta," said Dante Saksono Harbuwono during the FMB9 Dialogue conducted in Jakarta on Monday.

Dante obtained this information from the results of the Basic Health Research (Riskesdas) survey, which showed an increase in the obesity rate from 15.3 percent in 2013 to 21.8 percent in 2018.

According to Dante, the increasing income of the population has an influence on obesity if not accompanied by knowledge about proper food consumption.

Dante encouraged the public to become smart eaters by intelligently selecting the variety of foods they consume to prevent the adverse effects of obesity.

"What is needed is to educate the public to become smart eaters. Before eating or buying food, they should read and calculate the calorie content to understand its impact," said Dante Saksono Harbuwono.

He explained that the body mass index (BMI) of children can be calculated by dividing their weight (in kilograms) by their height (in square meters) to determine their nutritional status.

Health facilities, such as posyandu (integrated health posts), have included charts in children's health books as a guide to determine nutritional status.

"If the BMI is above 25, it is classified as obesity. If it ranges from 25 to 30, it is considered obesity class 1, and above 30 is classified as obesity class 2," he stated.

Regarding adults, Dante emphasized the importance of measuring waist circumference. For males, it should not exceed 90 centimeters, and for females, it should not exceed 80 centimeters.

Excessive waist circumference indicates the accumulation of fat in the intestinal tissues, which contributes to chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and others.