Infant formula is a manufactured food designed and marketed for feeding to babies and infants under 12 months of age, usually prepared for bottle-feeding or cup-feeding in form of powder (mixed with water) or liquid (with or without additional water) (wikipedia.com). Most of infant milk formula is made from cow’s milk which is enriched  by some important nutrition compounds to baby’s growth. However still many mothers are lack of information about the proper giving of this milk to the babies. This paper will explain why infant formula is not suitable and tends to give harmful impacts for the baby-under-12-months.

Infant formula becomes one of the alternatives of milk chosen by mothers to fulfill baby’s need of nutrition. In practical reason, a working mother chooses it to help her in balancing between working and feeding her baby. Looking for the best infant formula is being one of the priorities of parents in order to keep nourishing their baby. This formula promises the substantial nutrition for babies that can assist their growth and development in their early life. In the other hands, the babies consuming infant milk formula will grow as the “chubby baby”. The more chubby a baby, the more his mother is proud of him and the more satisfied she feels.The satisfaction comes upon them as the understanding of healthy baby is still measured by size of the baby. This assumption still remains until now.

The fact is the formula has the higher protein and other mineral contents than breast milks. Thus infant formula milk is rich of nutrient compound. Even so the milk will just be absorbed 15-20% in baby’s digestion. Different from breast milk that will be absorbed 100% in baby’s digestion.Therefore baby’s digestion system in their early life is not ready yet to effectively absorb any food except human milk.In addition infant formula milk contains high sweet that will make a baby consuming the formula have tendency of growing in obese.

Long-term effect will come to the baby who consumes infant milk formula. One of the effects is the rapid increasing of weight that will influence baby’s health in the future. According to Barker Theory, a baby who has a rapid increase weight in their childhood has higher risk of non-communicable disease in their adulthood such as coronary heart disease and diabetes mellitus. Another effect is the immunity of the baby  will be low if it compared with breastfeeding babies. Breast milk is a ‘live’ food that contains living cells, hormones, active enzymes, antibodies and at least 400 other unique components.

In conclusion, Infant milk formula is not suitable with baby’s digestion. Breast milk is the best solution for baby’s feeding and benefits baby health in the future because early nutrition and adult outcome are the pieces of the puzzle.

Written By: Fatwa Awaru | A Post-Graduate Student of Public Health
Picture : www.bbc.co.uk

The goverment of Makassar city turns out to encourage a program namely Makassar is not slovenly (adj/jorok) or locally well-known as Makassar Tidak Rantasa’. Many people have been familiar with the meaning of  “slovenly”, which means more and less, dirty. As the part of governor’s vision to keep Makassar clean, it will ensure (V/memastikan) the trash (n/sampah) to be transported from public dustbin (n/tempat sampah) to the city central disposal (n/tempat pembuangan sampah). It is thus expected to create a public awareness to cooporate with the distric goverment in cleaning maintenance of Makassar city. This paper will discuss the issue of Makassar is not slovenly.

As metropolitan people, many are not really concerned with environmental hygiene (n/kesehatan) and cleanliness, especially in our city, Makassar. The lack of public awareness and knowledge towards hygiene has inspired Makassar governor, Danny Pomanto, to initiate a program labeled Makassar Tidak Rantasa’ or Makassar is not slovenly. This is expected to have metropolitanians realize the urgency of hygiene as modern people’s behaviour. In addition, it expectedly becomes an inspiration for urbanized community being discipline responding to clean city effort. Apart from the intention to social change for being more clean, Makassar Tidak Rantasa’ is expected to be a stepping stone to grab back Adipura, an appreciation symbol of regional level cleanliness award in Indonesia.

In application, this program starts from distributing the number of garbages over the side of main roads in Makassar. The less number of garbage can is one of the major causes for environmental pollution and slovenly area, particularly in road vicinity. As the consequence, government then makes one of service following the Makassar Tidak Rantasa’, i.e. Bank Sampah (trash bank), making trash collected in certain number subtitutable (adj/dapat ditukar) with rice. This program intends to attract societies to collect garbage which will then be submitted to designated (v/ditunjuk,ditugaskan) governmental stands. After the submission, they will give rice as the reward.

Above all, Makasssar Tidak Rantasa’ seemingly is not more than a word. We can see that the implementation of the program is not running well, even makassar is more slovenly. Many taglines put in street billboard only gives dirty impression instead. Until now the banner is not well cared by the governor. Some billboard turned out to have broken and been recklessly (adv/serampangan, tidak diperhatikan) scattered (v/berserakan) around the street, nailed in trees, and other public facilities. How come Makassar is not filthy (adj/kotor, dekil)! The society will not be interested by only giving a tagline without controlling. Instead of making them awared, the society is prepared more not to care about the tagline which spread around the city. They also feel that the banner is just only for electoral campaign purpose. So, we need someone who can control and make evaluation toward the governor program.

Furthermore, the main cause of dirty derives from the town alley (n/lorong). Life style of filthy mostly commences (v/mulai) from the alley in this city. Therefore, for making city clean, the governor have to give more attention to the society who live in vicinity (n/sekitaran) of the alley. Beside that, the governor have to appoint someone who is competence and reliable (adj/dapat dipercaya) to be responsible on overseeing (v/mengontrol) that program, instead of merely (adj/hanya selalu, melulu) providing a dustbin in everywhere without control.

To conclude, narrow space in heterogen community has caused all the problems, one of them is the slovenliness. So, after seing this condition, concerning on the town alley will be more effective to reduce the number of slovenliness rather than putting banner in city’s billboard or, the worse, in every city’s spot and it also will make makassar clean or not slovenly, or tidak rantasa’.

Written by : Dwi Febry | Media Department of HEC

Picture : makassar.tribunnews.com