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THE ROLE OF HEALTHY SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT AND CANTEEN AS CHILDREN’S SOURCE OF CONSUMER LEARNING
Anna Triwijayati1, Etsa Astridya Setiyati1 Yudi Setianingsih2, Maria Lucia Luciana2
1 Management Study Program, Faculty of Business and Economic, University of Ma Chung
2English Literary Program, Faculty of Language and Art, University of Ma Chung ([email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected], 08885835735)
AbstractIn several researches on consumer, the children’s competence in making decision is still sparking some debates. Some researchers perceived that child-consumers’ decision making still depends on the parents’ decision. However, it is undeniable that children nowadays have the competence to be consumers. The children’s first source of consumer learning is their parents. Once the students study at school, the school environment, canteen, and food hawkers/street vendors will be the chidren’s source of consumer learning. Therefore, the habits of the parents and the family as well as everything that is part of the school programs, policies, and rules regarding healthy canteen will be a factor that highly detemines the students’ consumer learning process. The results of this research show that the conditions of school canteens in Malang City were still varied but they had similar kinds of foods. The canteens of elementary schools in Malang City could be categorized into three, namely the canteens that had met the quality standards of a healthy canteen, the canteens that had met most of the quality standards of a healthy canteen, and the canteens that had not fully met the quality standards of a healthy canteen. The foods sold to and consumed by the students of elementary schools in the school canteen were one dish foods, snacks, various beverages, and fruit cuts. Some schools had prohibitted the selling of foods by food hawkers/street vendors outside the school or implemented non-packaged food program or lunch-catering program. However, in general, there are still many more efforts that can be made by all parties in order to improve the quality of healthy canteens in elementary schools in Malang City.
Keywords: Healthy canteen, Elementary school, Child-Consumer, Consumer Learning
INTRODUCTIONAt least 5 hours a day, six days a week children are in school environment. In
addition to homes, schools and the surrounding environment also become the place for
children to learn and grow. The Child Friendly School UNICEF stated that there is a
pedagogic dimension in the relationship between school, home, and surrounding
environment. Children are involved in a dynamic and continuous process from the world
of school, home, and the environment around the home and the school. Not only
learning academically and socializing, children also learn consuming. Part of the
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Indonesian children’s time at schools is also spent for learning consuming. They
learning consuming from their interaction with friends, canteen keeper, and food street
vendors outside the school.
The children’s needs drive them to make a decision to buy. Children’s needs of
foods can be classified into two, namely physical motive and psychological motive.
Physical need is characterized with hunger and thirst, especially when the children use
much energy when studying at school. Psychological need is characterized with the lack
of reason for child-consumer to consume foods. Children buy foods because they want
to and there is no specific reason driving them to buy foods. The lack of reason may
suggest two things. Firstly, children are still unable to express the concrete reason of
non-physical purchase motive. Secondly, it may suggest that the children’s decision to
consume is driven by emotional motive.
Emotion is a psychological aspect that may have a relation with food. Food can
be used as a reward/incentive during social events in life and during happy and sad
moments; emotion is related with digestion. Psychological motive is a feeling and
emotion, driving humans to eat and drink, feel hunger, thirst, and unique feelings
(Dvorakova-Janu, 1999 in Vesela and Grebenova, 2010). The behavior of elementary
school children aged 9-12 is influenced by their social interaction. In this stage, children
do replication from a model and they have already been able to manipulate their
behavior, for example, for pleasing their parents or friends. The closest model whose
behavior, including the behavior of food consumption, can be replicated is parents.
Psychological need can also occur if the children feel uncomfortable with the situation of
their environment, for example family or school, and it can occur from the ongoing
modeling process. The lack of time for having lunch and dinner with family leads to
lesser opportunity for parents to form good eating habit for the children (Vesela and
Grebenova, 2010).
Children learn to consume firstly from microsystem environment which is
individuals interrelation, secondly from mesosystem which is the family, school and
neighbours, and thirdly and fourthly from exosystem and macrosystem (Tarabashkina,
2013). At the age of 9-12, children are at the phase of replicating model. The attitude
toward food is formed since early age and influenced by the environment (Vesela and
Grebenova, 2010). Children eating habit is influenced by their parents’ eating habit and
what they have already used to consume since infancy. The eating style and habit with
the family at home as well as the types of foods usually consumed also influence how
children consume (Drummond, 2010).
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The school environment and how the school control the canteen and food street
vendors outside the school will determine how children learn to consume. The exposure
from the canteen environment and food street vendors outside the school will be
accumulated in children’s learning process (John, 1999). Children easily change foods if
they are faced with the inavailability of the foods that they need, do product selection,
compare products’ prices and value, and often feel bored of the box lunch they carry.
This decision is variety seeking in nature. Therefore, if the children do not eat breakfast
and they buy foods at school, the motivation of purchase is indeed from the children’s
physical need, which is hunger. If they eat breakfast but still buy foods, the nature of
their decision is seeking behavior or influenced by the environment.
Children need school that is safe and comfortable with clean water for drink,
good sanitary facilities, clean air, food with good nutrition for them to learn and play,
grow healthily and improve their learning capacity (Pronczuk-Garbino, 2005). But there
is a high chance that the school has not given optimal contribution. The research
findings in the Philippines show that it is highly possible that canteen serves as one of
the contributors of overnutrition and obessity in children (Cartagena, 2014). The majority
of schools also offer foods with low content of nutrition (Marin and Brown, 2008).
Meanwhile, in fact, healthy school environment, including the canteen, covers the
cultures and atmosphere in a school which support the physic, pychology, emotion, and
social well-being of all school members (Dadvidson, 2008). Can all schools satisfy those
needs? Do children always consume healthy foods and have healthy environment at
school?
In Indonesia, the majority of the schools, parents, and society still perceive
canteen and healthy food as a facility that only exists at expensive schools. Meanwhile,
due to the limitation of resources, in Indonesia, schools generally only provide
rudimentary canteenz to satisfy children’s needz of buying foods. Actually, school
canteen is the best place to make a significant contribution in promoting health and
nutrition as well as being an important part in educational environment (Inglis, Waters
and Sewell, 2003). In relation with canteen and food street vendors outside the school, it
appears that this matter has become the concern of all parties, starting from the central
government, regional government, parents, to society.
So far, all schools wish for and suggest a strategic, structured plan which helps
schools to build healthy canteens and make sure that the foods consumed by students
at schools are healthy and safe. School canteens in Indonesia in general, and in Malang
City in particular, have varied forms and services. Some schools applying Adiwiyata
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Program have clean canteens and appropriate facilities such as place for washing
dishes with flowing water, place for washing hands, clean garbage bin, and wide seats.
However, the canteens of many of elementary schools are still not appropriate, either in
terms of facilities availability or in terms of hygiene. All this while, schools still find it
difficult to plan health canteen and food program for students.
Technically, children and foods become the concern of schools and parents.
However, on the other side, the competence of the school and the parents are also
limited if up to date there has been no child-consumer empowerment program which is
integrated intra-curriculum or at least as part of extracurricular activities. BPOM (Food
and Drugs Monitoring Agency) and the Health Office also admit the importance of cross-
sectoral involvement in empowering school child-consumers. Another obstacle faced by
schools is the financial capacity to build healthy canteens. Therefore, schools are
required to have strategal plan not only designing the involvement of parents,
government, and school but also considering gradual, sustainable implementation.
More than 30% of children’s nutrition is fulfilled at school (Inglis, Waters and
Sewell, 2003). During school age, the conditions of school environment and canteen
have a vital role in making decision. If the canteen has a new appeal, the children will
tend to have seeking behavior. The marketing practice at school such as setting logos,
pictures, and product brands at school, including at the canteen, will leave a
manipulative effect on the children. A considerable number of researches demonstrate
the linearity of the increase of severe illness cases and obessity in children with the
increase of exposure of junk food at school (Setiffi, 2014). Thus, the question is, how is
the condition of cateens at elementary schools? Are the canteens and school
environment an appropriate place for consuming learning for children?
Children’s consumer learning is not only gained from parents. As the children
grow, the environments of friendship, advertisements, and other marketing stimuli,
including school environment, will be a factor adding learning source for children as
consumers. The exposure of marketplace such as product display, product lable
placement, and purchase transaction becomes children’s consuming learning
experiences. John (1999) stated that these experiences will improve children’s cognitive
ability in interpreting and organizing their experiences on the process of purchase
transaction. Children learn about transaction place, transaction object (products and
brands), transaction procedures, and the value of cash exchange (shopping skill and
pricing).
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Child-consumers have multiple perspectives in behaving. This indicates that
child-consumers are the consumer subjects that are multifactoral and cannot be
neglected in the science of consumer behaviors. Unfortunately, specifically in Indonesia,
the researches that have been conducted all this time are only partial researches on
child-consumer, especially those that are conducted from the perspective of the
relationship between consumption and nutrition. Only a few resarches on how children
behave as consumers and how they learn to be consumers are found. Therefore, this
study aimed to give a new perspective on what are learnt by children, particularly from
school, in relation with the process of children becoming consumers. This study took the
perspective of discussion of children’s learning places, namely healthy school and
canteen, to support the competence of children as consumers.
METHODThe research type used is phenomenology in qualitative paradigm. The data colection
method used is observations in 25 elementary schools in 4 districts in Malang City,
namely Sukun District, Klojen District, Blimbing District, and Lowokwaru District. The
Observations were conducted over the period of May to June 2016. The observations
were conducted on the foods sold in school canteens and food street vendors outside
the school.
The observations were conducted by direct observations on canteens and food vendors
outside schools. The focuses of the observations were on: the kinds of foods sold and/or
consumed by students and how the students consumed and interacted with the
environment of food vendors inside and outside schools. The observation focused on
the condition of the canteens and the environment around the schools where the food
street vendors normally sold foods. The data analysis technique is qualitative data
analysis.
RESULTS A. An Overview and School Policies on Healthy CanteenThe requirements of canteen sanitation are explained in the Decree of the Minister of
Health of the Republic of Indonesia Number 1098/Menkes/SK/VII/2003, the Decree of
the Minister of Health of the Republic of Indonesia Number. 1429/Menkes/SK/XII/2006
and the Directorate General of Primary and Secondary Education of the Ministry of
National Education in 2014. The specification of healthy canteen standards is based on
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several aspects of health requirements of school canteen and eatery environmental
health, namely:
1. Building
2. Construction
3. Sanitary facilities
4. Kitchen, dining room, and serving
5. Source of flowing clean water
6. Food storage
7. Place for food processing/preparation
8. Serving place and dining room
9. Working equipment and save
10. Liquid and solid waste disposal
11. Supervision
The forms of school canteens are varied, starting from open canteen, the canteen that is
integrated with school shop, shop-canteen (without seat), window canteen, narrow-
tunnel canteen, to the canteen that is well-managed and have seats for eating. The
observation results show that the form and the serving ways did not have any relation
with children’s interest in buying food. Children still enthusiastically bought food despite
having to throng around and they still enjoyed the food while standing or walking.
Figure 1. Open Canteen (1) Figure 2. Open Canteen (2)
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Figure 3. Food in the cabinet storefronts (1) Figure 4. Food in the cabinet storefronts
(2)
Figure 5. Food and stationeries Figure 6. Window Canteen
Figure 8. Canteen in the narrow aisle Figure 9. Serving place
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Figure 10. Canteen (1) Figure 11. Canteen (2)
Figure 12. Canteen (3)
Based on the previously mentioned requirements, the condition of the canteens in
elementary schools in Malang City can be classified into some types, namely:
1. The school canteens that had met the standards of a healthy canteen
2. The school canteens that had met some of the requirements of a healthy
canteen
3. The school canteens that had not met the majority of the requirements of a
healthy canteen
The observations on the canteens in 25 elementary schools in Malang City show:
a. The conditions of school canteens that had met the standards of a healthy
canteen
The school canteens that had met all standards of a healthy canteen usually
were located in Adiwiyata-labeled elementary schools, private elementary
schools that costed high educational fees, and elementary schools that had
international standard. In general, this type of schools is one of the favorite
schools for parents for their children’s education. The results of the observations
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generally show that the school canteens are quite spacious, 4-by-12-sized, and
quite wide for students. The canteen room is divided into 4-6 booths which are
rentable for outsiders. In this category, schools had met all criteria physically.
Schools regulated canteen management by giving rules for canteen keepers,
namely:
1. It is not allowed to sell the same types of foods
2. The foods that are sold must be healthy food and did not contain any
syntetic food dye and other harmful additives.
In most schools that implement strict rules on students’ food consumption, there
are no food street vendors in front of the schools. The impression of being clean
and calm is very dominant in these schools. The prices of the foods ranged from
Rp. 1.000 to Rp. 10.000. The foods that are sold are quite varied, starting from
snacks to heavy food. The canteen characteristic that is distinct is the foods,
especially the heavy meals, that are sold are quite good in quality and healty.
In order to give more guarantees on the children’s health, there are schools
that urged the students to bring box lunch from home or some schools that
provided catering at school. Righ after entering the inner yard of a school, there
is something interesting, which are some racks of lunch boxes that are neatly
displayed in front of class. Almost all shelves are filled with the students’ lunch
boxes. This suggests that most of the students brought box lunch from home.
The school catering was started due to the students’ habit of not eating
breakfast, and there was a parent who asked for the principal’s permision to
send breakfast at every break time. Some other mothers, most of which were
career-women, firstly only asked her to make the same box lunch for their
children. By the time this research is reported, the school catering is served by 4
mothers, who averagely served 30 to 70 students. The price of the school
catering ranged between Rp. 6000 to 7000 per/box, and the parents/students
could determine the time of taking the box lunch, whether during the first break
time or the second break time.
b. The conditions of the school canteens that only met some requirements of a
healthy canteen
The foods in this kind of canteen usually had met the health
requirements, but there are some physical requirements that had not been met.
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For example, there are some canteens that had not have any separated place
for preparing foods, or that had not any source of flowing water or probably
dining room. In general, most of the school canteens are already clean an well-
organized. The foods sold in both canteens appeared to have met the standards
of sanitation. Although the average prices of the foods are quite cheap, all foods
are wrapped/packaged. Some foods are produced by the school, guaranteeing
the hygiene. Meanwhile, the schools usually had understood all requirements for
healthy canteen and foods. Schools usually had made a policy of the foods that
were allowed to be sold at the school canteen. The canteens are not allowed to
sell any food that is harmful for children’s health, for example, snacks that
contain syntetic sweetener or flavor-enhancer, non-food dye, and other harmful
additives.
c. The school canteens that had met the majority of the requirements of a healthy
canteen
Usually this type of school had a very simple canteen, even the Principal
mentioned that the school did not have any canteen. Usually the size of the
canteen is very small compared to the number of the students. During break
time, students were seen in a crowd to buy food at the canteen. They enjoyed
foods while standing, sitting at the terrace, or walking. In fact, the schools had
realized that the canteens were not worth called a canteen and the plan for
improving the canteens had not been the schools’ priority. The plan for improving
the canteens was supported by students’ parents and they started to prepare to
build canteens independently. All this while, the schools’ policy was only in the
form of an appeal for the students through the teachers. Another effort is
empowering and educating the food street vendors around schools on healthy
foods. Although there was no written policy on school canteen and foods, this
effort received good responses from food street vendors. Despite being in
simplicity and the low purchasing power of the students, the food street vendors
fairly understood not to sell dangerous foods and tried to maintain the hygiene of
the food they sold. Due to the limitation in canteen, the food street vendors sold
their foods outside the school. Among the kinds of foods that were sold, there
were still some foods that were harmful for children such as noodle stick, spicy
macaroni, and ‘ciki-ciki’ snacks.
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B. The Presence of Food Street vendors in Front of Schools
The presence of street vendors that sold foods outside the fence of elementary schools
in Malang had become a common phenomennon. The street vendors are selling by
motorcycle with cart, car (food truck), bicycles, and push cart. The foods that they sold
are varied, for example: cilok, batagor, tempura, fried egg, cimol, leker, turnover
pancake (terang bulan), pangsit noodle, fruit juice, soto rice, meatballs, etc. The prices
depended on the types of the foods, starting from Rp. 500 to Rp 3.000.
According to the street foods for school children data that had been collected, the street
foods sold outside the school are classified into one dish foods, snacks, beverages, and
fruits. Among 180 types of foods that are sold, the number of snacks is bigger than three
other types (51.0%). Meanwhile, one dish foods comprise 29.0% and beverages
comprised 18.0% of the total number of kinds of foods that are sold. The kinds of foods
being sold by street foods for school children sellers are more varied, including fruits,
especially fruit cuts and fruit salad (2.0%) than those sold by canteen keepers (see
Figure 13).
Figure 13. Street Foods for School Children Sold Outside the School
Among noodles that are categorized into one dish foods, dried instant noodles and
cooked instant noodles are the noodles that are sold as foods for school children with
the highest sales (60.0%). Noodle is a source of carbohydrate which has the function as
a builder. The big number of noodles sold is probably due to practical packaging as well
as the possibility that school children tended to prefer noodle to rice. The street foods for
school children sold outside the school only provided some kinds of foods from rice
(30.0%) and from poultry, meet, and fish (10.0%).
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Figure 14. One Dish Foods Sold by Food Street Vendors Outside the School
The number of snacks (52.0%) that are sold is the largest among all kinds of foods sold
outside schools. Among this group, wafer and candies are two types of snacks with the
largest numbers (22.0% - 25%). The next is another kind of snacks (sempol, cilok, and
mini martabak) that comprised 18.0%, followed by extruded food products (various chiki)
by 19.0% and chips (16.0%). Between the street foods for school children sellers that
sold outside the school and canteen keepers, it could be seen that the street foods for
school children sellers selling food outside school provided more variants of snacks and
only a little amount of one dish food from rice, while in fact, food from rice can give a
large amount of energy for school children (Figure 15).
Figure 15. Snacks Sold by Food Sellers Outside School
The presence of food vendors in front of schools became a phenomenon for the majority
of elementary schools in Indonesia’s cities. The children are evidently extremely
attracted by food vendors and the street foods that they sold outside canteen.
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Figure 16. Street Vendors ‘fried fries’ Figure 17. Street Vendors ‘fresh milk’
Figure 18. Street Vendors Cilok Bakar’ Figure 18. Street Vendors ‘Pentol/Cilok Bakar’
The media for selling are also varied, starting from cart, motor cycle, to car.
Figure 20. Street Vendors in front of school (1) Figure 21. Street Vendors (2) in front of school
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Figure 22. Various Media Used by Food vendors for Selling Foods
Some Examples of the Implementations of School Policies on Canteen and Healthy Foods
Most canteens were managed by schools, in the sense that schools managed canteens
by employing one or some canteen keepers. Some other school canteens had some
counters that could be managed by students’ mothers/parents or outsiders. Some
schools made rules for canteen renters, for example the rules on the types of foods,
hygiene, servings, and prices of the foods.
Figure 23. Counter of mothers (1) Figure 24. Counter of mothers (2)
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Figure 25. Counter of mothers (3) Figure 26. Counter of mothers (4)
Figure 27. Counter of mothers (5)
The researcher had an opportunity to observe the canteen of a well-managed school,
namely one of the State Madrasah Ibtidayah in Malang City. It could be seen that the
canteen room was spacious, facilitated with seats, and selling healthy foods for children.
The school made some rules on the types of foods that were allowed to be sold, the
dresscode for the food servers, and the prices of the foods.
Figure 28. Clean canteen (1) Figure 29. Clean canteen (2)
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The observations in some other schools gave valuable experiences for the researcher,
one of which is when the researcher observed in SDN Blimbing 3 and SDK St Maria 2. In
those schools, there are some racks filled with children’s foods, either in the form of
beverages or lunch box, arranged in front of classrooms. This habituation of the students
to bring foods from home could control their desire to buy foods. The habituation to bring
foods also guaranteed children’s health and nutrition.
Figure 30. The facility of foods and bottled beverage racks
In SDK St. Maria 2, the researcher had the opportunity to observe children who enjoyed
their foods or school catering. Because most children brought foods from home or
bought catering, buying foods were only an additional activity for the students during
break time. The box lunch and catering could reduce parents’ worry about school foods
hygiene.
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Figure 31. Enjoying box lunch and catering
C. Street Foods for School ChildrenAccording to the results of the data collection, the street foods for school children sold in
canteen and sold by some street vendors outside the school were one dish meal,
snacks, beverages, and fruits.
Table 1Categories of Street Foods for School Children
One Dish Meal Snacks Beverages FruitsFried RiceSoto RiceMeatballsChicken NoodlesSiomayBatagorFried Rice
Vermicelli (Bihun)Fried Noodles
CilokSempolSausage, Nugget, kaki naga, OmeletteCrepesFrittersMini MartabakChipsCakesBiscuitWaferNutsCracker
Soft drink (carbonated beverages)Mixed Ice Dessert
(Es campur)Es mamboIced TeaIced SyrupFruit JuicesMineral WaterMilkSoy MilkIce Cream
PapayaMelonPineappleWatermelonMangoFruit salad
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One Dish Meal Snacks Beverages FruitsCandiesChocolateExtruded Food
Products (Chiki, Remes Noodles, Noodle Sticks, Macaroni)
Among more than 100 kinds of street foods that are sold, the number of snack foods is
the biggest compared to other food groups, which is 59.0%, and the numbers of one
dish foods and beverages are 25% and 16%, respectively. Meanwhile, the fruit cuts are
not peddled (Figure 32).
Figure 32. Street Foods for School Children in School Canteens
Fifty percent (50.0%) of one dish foods consisted of foods made of noodles and rice
vermicelli. Then, 35.56% are made of wheat flour and 8.44% are made of rice. Only
6.0% are foods made of animal protein, namely meets, poultry, fish, and eggs, and even
the canteen keepers did not provide any food made of vegetables (see Figure 33).
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Figure 33. One Dish Food Group in School Canteen
Among foods made of noodles, fried noodles are the one that are sold the most. Top
three kinds of foods made of noodles included boiled noodles, fried noodles, and fried
rice vermicelli. Then, top three kinds of foods that are made of rice included nasi uduk,
lontong, and fried rice. Foods made of wheat flour included pasta (macaroni schotel,
mini pizza, sweet martabak, etc.). Based on the resuls of data collection on Street Foods
for School Children, it can be seen that there is still a lack of one dish food variations
sold in canteens, where the canteens did not provide any food made of vegetables
whereas vegetables are essential. The foods made of meet, fish, poultry, and eggs in
the one dish food group are meatballs, batagor, and siomay.
The food group of snacks that comprised 59.0% of the total street foods for school
children sold around schools is the food group that had the largest number compared to
other food groups. Among the foods included in this food group, traditional cakes (kue
talam, rolled pancake/dadar gulung, etc.) and extruded food products (various chiki,
biscuit, and wafer) are the kinds if foods with the highest number, namely 63% and
23.0%, respectively. The next is the type of chocolate and nuts by 10.0%, followed by
other kinds of street foods (cilok, sempol, etc.) and fritters (tofu, tempeh, spring
roll/lumpia, and rissole) by 4.0% (Figure 34).
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Figure 34. Snack Food Group
Figure 35 shows that from the beverage group, 25% are softdrinks. Some examples of
beverages are fruit extract, tea, and milk. Various iced drinks (es dawet, es campur, es
teler, and es blewah) is 25%, various juices are 25.0%, including mango juice, orange
juice, and melon juice. Bottled mineral water is 25.0%.
Figure 35. Beverage Group
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Table 2Beverage and Food Identifiction in Street Foods for School Children
Districts
Elementary Schools
Number of Street Foods for School Children
Sellers
PJAS Minuman
PJAS Makanan
SUKUN
SDN Karangbesuki 1 SDN Karangbesuki 2 SDN Karangbesuki 3 SDN Karangbesuki 4 SD Kristen Charis SD LB Bhakti Luhur SDK St Maria 2
2 2 2 2 6 2
Es Fanta, es buah, es oren, cheers Es blewah, es puter, es beras kencur Es sirup, es dawet, es buah, susu Es blewah, es jeruk, es buah Fruit juice, soft drinks, mineral water, milk Iced syrup, es buah, es dawet
One dish foods, snacks One dish foods, snacks One dish foods, snacks One dish foods, snacks, fruit cuts One dish foods, snacks, fruit cuts
KLOJEN
SD Negeri Kauman 01 SD Negeri Kauman 02 SD My Little Island
3 2 1
Iced tea, iced syrup, mineral water, fruit juice Soft drinks, es buah, es dawet Fruit juice, mineral water, soft drinks milk
One dish foods, snacks, fruit cuts One dish foods, snacks One dish foods, snacks, fruit cuts
BLIMBING
SD Islam Sabilillah SDN Bunulrejo 6 SD Katolik Marsudisiwi SDN Blimbing 1 SDN Blimbing 3 SDN Pandanwangi 5
5 2 2
Mineral water, soft drinks, fruit juice Es oren, es buah, es blewah Es buah, fruit juice, mineral water, milk
One dish foods, snacks, fruit cuts One dish foods, snacks One dish foods, snacks, fruit cuts
LOWOKWARU
SDN Percobaan 01 SDN Percobaan 02 SD Laboratorium UM SD Brawijaya Smart School SD Anak Saleh SD PJ Global MIN Malang 3 MIN Malang 1 SDK Sang Timur
1 1 3 5 2 1 2 2
Es buah, fruit juice, mineral water, milk Mineral water, iced tea, fruit juice, milk Mineral water, fruit juice, iced syrup Mineral water, soft drink, fruit juice, milk Fruit juice, mineral water, es buah, milk Soft drink, mineral water, fruit juice, milk Mineral water, fruit juice, est buah, milk Es buah, es blewah, es puter
One dish foods, snacks, fruit cuts One dish foods, snacks, fruit cuts One dish foods, snacks, fruit cuts One dish foods, snacks, fruit cuts One dish foods, snacks, fruit cuts One dish foods, snacks, fruit cuts One dish foods, snacks, fruit cuts One dish foods, snacks
21
1. Types of Street Foods: Snacks and Beverages
Some school canteens still sold some snacks with varied flavours. This snack is also known
as ciki-ciki. This name is derived from the name of one popular snack, which is ciki-ciki. From
the documentations of the research, it was also found that in some canteens, syrup
beverages with various flavors and colors that attracted child-consumers to buy were still
sold. From the observation, it could be seen that the street foods for children were already
packaged, but in small size. The amount of the content of that small package is adjusted to
the low prices of the foods as the amount students’s packet money is also limited. One
package of this street food is usually sold at Rp. 500 to Rp 1.000.
Figure 36. Various Beverages
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Figure 37. Various Snacks
2. Types of Street Foods: One Dish Foods and other Heavy MealsHeavy street foods are the ones that are filling, for example, rice, noodles, and soto.
These street foods could be served in mica pack or on a plate/bowl. The prices of these
street foods ranged between Rp. 1.000 to Rp. 7.500.
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Figure 38. Various One Dish Foods and Other Heavy Foods
Cake could also be categorized into heavy meals. Cake is a non-rice street food in the form
of a cake. Usually, these foods had already been wrapped, but in some canteens, they were
left unwrapped. The types of these street foods varied, starting from fritters (Banana Fritters,
weci), baked foods (bikang, pancake/terang bulan), steamed foods (steamed cupcake/roti
kukus), bakeries, etc. The prices of this kind of street foods are from Rp. 500 to Rp. 2.000.
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Figure 39. Various Wrapped and Unwrapped Cakes
DISSCUSIONThe results of the observations in school canteens demonstrate the learning
environment of children as consumers at school. How do the children’s learning applied at
canteens and school environment?
Consumption is an act of expressing one identity that has been assimilated,
internalized, and negotiated through a phase of life since childhood, adulthood, to old age
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(Setififi, 2014). Clean school environment has a unique interelation and relationship with the
effective environment of consuming learning source. Children who implement “eat smart and
get exercise” will have a better focus and lesser problems at school (Davidson, 2008).
Children may not always consume healthy foods at school (Cartagena, 2014). The
kinds of street foods liked by children do not have any similarity and they are varied. The
disimilarity and variations of street foods show that the range of street food options for school
children is wide and varied. The time and frequency of purchase tend to be uncertain. This
tendency suggests that children tend not to buy the same kinds of street foods. In other
words, child-consumers tend to shift from one product to another or try other kinds of street
foods. Children’s preference of certain street foods is driven by a simple reason, which is
‘simply because I want it and because it is tasty’. Simple reason and how it quickly emerges
also signify impulsive decision. Other factors are the presence of influencer(s) and reference
from friends. Child-consumers do have close friends, but they can also independently take
action when consuming school street foods.
Children also compare their favorite street foods with other types of street foods. The
shift of child-consumer from one product to another happens easily and instantly. The reason
of the shift to other product is also the same as the reason why children buy their favorite
street foods products, which is ‘the tasty ones or anything that can be found in the canteen’.
This finding also demonstrate the fact that children tend to consume unhealthy foods and
beverages at all levels in all school canteens investigated in Philippines (Cartagena, 2014).
Besides, 56% of the consumers of street foods sold by hakwers outside school, even in the
USA, are school children (Tester, Yen, & Laraia, 2010). Imagine if schools do not provide
any facility of healthy canteen and allow street vendors sell foods outside school. Children
will learn to consume from food street vendors and the environment outside school, which
will be diffucult for parents and school to control.
The problem of children’s interaction with food street vendors at school becomes a
challenge of children’s learning source to consume. This problem does not only happen in
Indonesia, but also some other countries. Marin and Brown (2008) in a research conducted
in 2004 in the USA found that 89.5% schools allowed their students to buy food from vending
machines. The increase of children’s access to food street vendors outside the school
increases their acces to high-fat foods. Children will also have a tendency to buy high-fat
foods from food street vendors and the nearest shops while they are on the way home
(Tester, Yen, & Laraia, 2010).
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The children’s learning process from the environment does not happen in the blink of
an eye. This learning process is dynamic in nature and it is interconnected with school
environment, family, and the environment around school and home. Children aged 7-9
perceive purchasing experiences as ‘necessary and exciting’ and ‘necessary part of life’. The
older the children, the better they describe the details of shop layout and its environment,
names of sellers, as well as goods and brands being offerred (John, 1999).
Children have three roles in the market: influencer for parents’ consuming behaviors,
future market, and spending power (Tarabashkina, 2013). Children’s education is started
since they are introduced with money or since they are given money. Keep in mind that
basically, children still do not know money and unable to rationally take consuming decision.
Once the children are given pocket money, children will know consuption and have
purchasing power. Children can buy because they have purchasing power, which is from the
pocket money.
Child-consumers understand that pocket money is the money for buying foods. Child-
consumers know the aim they are given pocket money. Pocket money also serves as the
source of child-consumers’ purchasing power in consuming street foods. Usually the amount
of pocket money is relatively constant and given every day by the parents. To some child-
consumers that love spending money for buying street foods, the amount of pocket money
they get is often times insufficient. However, to other child-consumers, the same amount may
be perceived as greater than what they need and can be saved. The pocket money is usually
given by mothers. The initiative of the provision of pocket money comes from both the
mothers and the children with inconsistent pattern. The reasons why mothers give pocket
money are practically “uniform”, which are pity and the fear if the children will starve. The
provision of pocket money to child-consumers will create purchasing power and make
children consumers. When the children understand that pocket money is the money used for
buying street foods, the money tend to be used up.
Parents play a role in conditioning the street foods consumption behavior. Children
mention that parents often remind them of which street foods are consumable and which one
should not be consumed. The children that are given nutritional knowledge demonstrate an
increase in the preference to healthy food (Tarabashkina, 2013). The street foods most
frequently forbidden by parents from being consumed are chiki-chiki, iced milk, flavored
macaroni, noodle sticks, and cilok. Some of these street foods (chiki-chiki, noodle stick, and
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flavored macaroni) are street foods in the form of seasoned snacks in various flavors. Those
street foods apparently frequently cause children to fall sick.
Someone’s consuming behavior in adulthood is formed form his/her consuming
learning since early stages of his/her life. The results of the researches on children’s
consuming behavior show that the instillation of consuming value in children will guide them
to good consuming behaviors. Children will deeply value money, able to make a wise
selection on products, determine purchasing priority, focus on needs and responsibility on
money. The cases of pocket money misappropriation happens because children are not
consistently educated to make a wise, transparent, and responsible decision on
consumption. North and Poggion (2001) found that parents agree that they have to educate
their children to manage their own finance and avoid being shopaholics.
Consuming education can be started from the simplest thing. For example: parents
must ask their children about what they have bought that day and whether the pocket money
is spend accordingly. The responsibility can be improved, for example by giving them
Educational Management Contribution. This can be continued until the parents are sure that
their children can be fully responsible on their financial management and consuming
behavior.
Child-consumers’ decision is a learning process, which is consuming learning.
Basically, humans are learners and one of the things they learn are consuming and foods.
Actually, since infancy children has been taught to consume healthy foods, but deviation in
consumption normally happens in this phase due to multiple number of complex factors.
Consumers’ socialization can be seen routinely in their practices in family, school,
mass media and their practice with friends (Setiffi, 2014). In school phase, children learn to
consume from school. The consuming behavior learnt at school will play an important role in
forming healthy consuming behavior, which will be practiced in adulthood (Drummond,
2010). In a research in Australia, it was found that children are likely to consume more
healthy foods if the foods is promoted or displayed well (Cargagena, 2014). Children are
learning consuming subject. Children continuously grow and they like to see something new.
Therefore, healthy foods and canteen stimuli that will be useful for children are needed.
Healthy school environment, street foods, and canteen are, in fact, not neccesarrily
perceived as a physical program that requires considerable amout of funds and resources.
The creation of healthy culture and habit at school is one of the easiest solutions for school
to realize healthy environment, canteen, and foods. A community-based program is
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necessary to reduce the influence of unhealthy food marketing because today, marketing
programs do not only influence children and parents, but also school environment and policy
makers (Tarabashkina, 2013). Parents should be involved in school programs. Parents’
involvement is needed to empower children as well as the parents themselves (Healthy
Schools campaign and Trust for America’s Health, 2012).
Wechsler, McKenna, Lee, and Dietz (2004) school may make some programs that will leave
a positive impact on children’s health as follows:
1. Health educating
2. Physical education
3. Health services
4. Nutrition services
5. Counseling
6. Healthy school environment
7. Health promotion for staff
8. Family community involvement
9. Forming school health coordinator
10. Developing school health programs and policies
11. Enforcing nutrition and physical activities at school
12. Making sure that students can choose healthy foods and beverages, especially those
street vendors outside the school
Meanwhile, the Dairy Council of California, (n.d) stated that Supporting School in creating
healthy School environment Porgram can be in the form of the improvement of education on
health and nutrition as part of the learning in classrooms and support to the breakfast and
lunch at school program. In Indonesia, the program can be realized with the activity of
bringing box lunch to school. The children foods and nutrition service program at school
contribute in healthy environment (Davidson, 2008). The effect of quality improvement of the
menu at school canteens will leave an impact on children’s general health (Inglis, Waters,
and Sewell, 2003).
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONChildren are learner and they learn from everything and environment. In the snack food
consumption, children learn how to be consumer from school, canteen, street vendor,
teacher and their friends. They learn various product, how to pay, how delicious and price.
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Otherwise children have limited knowledge and thinking. They do know well the intention
behind the product stimulus, i.e: food color, food igredient, labeling and packaging. The
research result that there are various kind of snack food in the many conditions of school
canteen. In this situation we do not know how well snack food consumed by children and
how good environment giving best practises and knowledge for children. Future research can
focus on how children learn as consumers. It is also important to know how the parents teach
good practices in consumption decision making for the children. It will give opportunities for
school, government and parents to give meaningful consumption learning to consumers.
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Healthy? An Assessment of The Nutritional Value of The Foods and Drinks Sold at The School Canteens of De La Salle Araneta University. Proceeding. DLSU Research Congress De La Salle University Philippines.
Child Friendly Schools. (2009). School and Community (Chapter 4), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Retrieve from: http://www.unicef.org/publications/files/Child_Friendly_Schools_Manual_EN_040809.pdf
Dairy Council of California. (n.d). Supporting School in Creating Healthy School Environments. Retrieve from: http://www.healthyeating.org/Portals/0/Documents/Schools/Nutr_checklst_web.pdf
Drummond, C.D. (2010). Using Nutrition Education and Cooking Classes in Primary Schools to Encourage Healthy Eating. Journal of Student Wellbeing, 4(2). 43-54.
Healthy Schools Campaign and Trust for America’s Health. (2012). Health in Mind, Improving Education Through Wellness. Retrieve from: https://healthyschoolscampaign.org/wp-content/uploads/ 2015/07/ Health_in_ Mind_Report.pdf
Inglis, V., Waters, E., & Sewell, J. (2003). To Promote Awareness of The Risk Factors That Contribute to Childhood Obesity and Assess The Ability of Parents to Develop Shared Strategies to Reduce Such Risks (Report). Centre for Community Child Health Royal Children’s Hospital, Australia. Retrieve from: http://www.rch.org.au/uploadedFiles/Main/Content/ccch/Ozchild_report.pdf
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Pronczuk-Garbino, J. (2005). Children's Health and The Environment, a Global Perspective a Resource Manual for The Health Sector (Report), Geneva: World Health Organization. Retrieve from: whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2005/9241562927_eng.pdf
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Tarabashkina, L., (2013)., Children Food Consumer Sosialisation: The Impact of Food Advertising, Parents, Peers and Social Norm on Children’s Food Preferences, Food Consumption and Obesity (Doctorate Dissertation), The Business School The University of Adelaide, Australia.
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