Food Price Volatility and the Worrying Trend in Children's Snacking in Indonesia

Rising food prices, increasing urbanisation, rising numbers of working women and reduced time for care has led to more children eating more pre?prepared and instant food in Indonesia. Besides the durability of much packaged food, its price is also less volatile and often cheaper than fresh food. The rising consumption of pre?prepared and instant food is a worrying trend for Indonesia because this newly middle?income country faces a problem of hidden hunger. Among households who took part in the Life in a Time of Food Price Volatility study, we found widespread concerns about the quality, nutritional value and safety of snacks and other instant foods eaten by children. We also heard about the effect on children's relations with their elders. This article looks at links between food prices and changing food habits and argues that children's snacking, while appearing micro, is creating macro?dynamics related to nutrition security and social wellbeing

Data dan Informasi Kinerja Pembangunan 2004-2012

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Audit of antibiotic prescribing in two governmental teaching hospitals in Indonesia.

Contains fulltext : 70009.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)This article estimates the magnitude and quality of antibiotic prescribing in Indonesian hospitals and aims to identify demographic, socio-economic, disease-related and healthcare-related determinants of use. An audit on antibiotic use of patients hospitalized for 5 days or more was conducted in two teaching hospitals (A and B) in Java. Data were collected by review of records on the day of discharge. The method was validated through concurrent data collection in Hospital A. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to determine variables to explain antibiotic prescribing. Prescriptions were assessed by three reviewers using standardized criteria. A high proportion (84%) of 999 patients (499 in Hospital A and 500 in Hospital B) received an antibiotic. Prescriptions could be categorized as therapeutic (53%) or prophylactic (15%), but for 32% the indication was unclear. Aminopenicillins accounted for 54%, and cephalosporins (mostly third generation) for 17%. The average level of antibiotic use amounted to 39 DDD/100 patient-days. Validation revealed that 30% of the volume could be underestimated due to incompleteness of the records. Predictors of antibiotic use were diagnosis of infection, stay in surgical or paediatric departments, low-cost nursing care, and urban residence. Only 21% of prescriptions were considered to be definitely appropriate; 15% were inappropriate regarding choice, dosage or duration, and 42% of prescriptions, many for surgical prophylaxis and fever without diagnosis of infection, were deemed to be unnecessary. Agreement among assessors was low (kappa coefficients 0.13-0.14). Despite methodological limitations, recommendations could be made to address the need for improving diagnosis, treatment and drug delivery processes in this setting