| dc.description.abstract | Food is one of the most essential aspects for human growth, particularly in children.
The high prevalence of stunting is largely caused by poor nutrition, where parents often
neglect the quality of food consumed by their children and have limited understanding
of the nutritional needs of early childhood. Anthropology is a discipline that studies
humans in a comprehensive manner. From an anthropological perspective, humans are
understood as individual, social, and spiritual beings. These three dimensions indicate
that humans are cultural beings. Culture itself manifests in three forms: ideas, activities,
and artifacts. In this research, the focus is on the activity dimension, specifically the
activities of mothers in preparing food for their children. Such activities are understood
as part of culture because they reflect everyday practices related to meeting basic needs
and transmitting values within the family.
This study aims to examine the role of parents in selecting food as school provisions
for children at PAUD Melati, Desa Sidomulyo. It also explores how parental decisions
are influenced by nutritional knowledge, children’s preferences, and cultural as well as
social factors within the community. The research employs a qualitative approach with
a case study method, where data were collected through observation, interviews, and
documentation with parents and teachers at PAUD Melati. The findings indicate that
most parents still tend to choose instant or packaged foods as school provisions, mainly
considering practicality and children’s preferences. Parents’ nutritional knowledge
remains limited, while food choices are strongly influenced by inherited habits and
social pressures from children’s peer environments at school. The analysis draws upon
Koentjaraningrat’s concept of the three forms of culture and Pierre Bourdieu’s theory
of habitus to explain how ideas, activities, and cultural artifacts shape children’s food
consumption patterns.
This research concludes that parents play a crucial role in shaping children’s dietary
patterns from an early age. Therefore, continuous intervention from educational
institutions and nutrition education programs is needed to raise parental awareness of
the importance of balanced nutrition in supporting children’s optimal growth and
development. | en_US |
