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Warm Up

Helpful Words and Phrases

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  1. malnutrition
    • ex. People in poor areas experience malnutrition because they do not get enough healthy food to eat.
  2. stunted
    • ex. The government is working hard to provide nutrition to children with stunted growth.
  3. malnourished
    • ex. The charity helps feed malnourished children by providing healthy meals every day.
  4. the poverty line
    • ex. Many families in the village live below the poverty line and can’t afford food and clothing.
  5. a critic
    • ex. The mayor's critics said his new plan will not solve the city’s traffic issues.

Article

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Indonesia’s government has started a large project to fight malnutrition. The Free Nutritious Meal program aims to provide food to nearly 90 million children and pregnant women. It’s expected to cost $28 billion (about ¥4.4 trillion) by 2029. It was a campaign promise by President Prabowo Subianto. He said the program will help children grow better and also support farmers’ income.

In Indonesia, about 21.5% of children under 5 years old experience stunted growth. Subianto also mentioned that many children are malnourished. The government plans to give free school lunches and milk to 83 million students in over 400,000 schools. Subianto said, “Too many of our brothers and sisters are below the poverty line. Too many of our children go to school without breakfast and do not have clothes for school.”

However, critics are concerned that the program might be too expensive. Nailul Huda, a researcher at the Center of Economic and Law Studies, said that Indonesia’s government does not have enough money to support the program. And this could lead to more national debt.

Discussion

Choose a topic and discuss the questions with your tutor.

Indonesia’s Free Nutritious Meal Program

  • What do you think about Indonesia’s Free Nutritious Meal program for children and pregnant women (ex. it’s a good project, it’s not affordable)? Discuss.
  • The program is expected to cost $28 billion. What do you think about this amount of money? Discuss.
  • Would you like a similar free meals program in your country? Why or why not? Discuss.

Malnutrition

  • In your opinion, is malnutrition a serious problem? Why do you say so? Discuss.
  • Do you think providing free meals at school can help fight malnutrition? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • Imagine that you are in charge of the health department in your country. What programs will you start to fight malnutrition? Discuss.