December 22, 2025 | 10:28 am
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian National Nutrition Agency (BGN) will continue to distribute free nutritious meals (MBG) during the school break. President Prabowo Subianto's flagship program will still be distributed for six days a week even though schools are going on semester break.
The Head of the Legal and Public Relations Bureau of BGN, Khairul Hidayati, explained the reason. According to her, the MBG service must continue during the break because the risk of malnutrition can actually increase during school holidays when family eating patterns are not monitored.
Hidayati stated that consistency is crucial in the implementation of MBG. "We want to ensure that the holiday period is not a risk for the growth and development of children and the health of mothers, but remains a safe phase because nutritional support continues," said Hidayati as quoted from BGN's official website on Sunday, December 21, 2025.
In addition to students, MBG continues to be distributed to vulnerable groups consisting of pregnant women, lactating mothers, and toddlers (3B group) during school holidays. This policy refers to the Guidelines for the Implementation of MBG Program During School Holidays set by the Decision of the Head of BGN Number 52.1 of 2025.
In the guidelines, BGN ensures that services for the 3B group do not experience interruption because they are beneficiaries in need of regular and measurable nutritional intake. MBG distribution for this group is carried out regularly from Monday to Saturday, without schedule adjustments even though schools are on break.
Hidayati stated that pregnant women, lactating mothers, and toddlers are the groups that need the most attention. "Therefore, even though schools are on break, the distribution of MBG for the 3B group continues for six days a week. This is a mandate from the official guidelines and a form of the country's commitment to maintaining nutrition from an early age," she said.
BGN previously provided options for distributing MBG to students during school breaks. BGN's Deputy Head, Nanik Sudaryati Deyang, left the decision on distributing MBG meals during the break to the schools. "If the school does not want to accept, we will not force them," said Nanik when contacted on Thursday, December 18, 2025.
Nanik emphasized that distribution of President Prabowo's priority program does not recognize breaks. For instance, if there are no students willing to attend school, the nutrition fulfillment service unit (SPPG) will still produce MBG meals to serve beneficiaries in the pregnant women, lactating mothers, and toddler categories. "So there are no breaks," she said.
BGN stated that one option for distributing MBG during school breaks is the packaged mechanism. In this mechanism, the MBG allowance for six days will be distributed twice a week. The meals received by students consist of a combination of ready-to-eat dishes with packaged foods, such as bread, eggs, milk, and fruits.
Another option is that students can still receive a ready-to-eat meal package every day. However, students must be willing to come to school every day to pick up the MBG package.
Dinda Shabrina contributed to this article.
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