Dietary formulation to overcome micronutrient deficiency status in Indonesia

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the contribution of each food group from the typical Indonesian diet to the daily intake of micronutrients and to the micronutrient deficiency status of different age groups of the Indonesian population, and also to formulate a healthier diet using linear programming.Design/methodology/approach – Data on typical Indonesian diet, food items and serving sizes were obtained from the Indonesian Socio Economic Survey. Each food item of the diet and its serving size were noted and their iron (mg.day−1), zinc (mg.day−1) and vitamin A (Retinol Equivalent, RE.day−1) contribution were calculated. Adequacy of typical diet was determined in comparison to RDA. Linear programming calculations were performed using POM‐QM for windows version 3.Findings – The highest iron and zinc contributor in each age group was white rice and for vitamin A was the chicken and meat group. Iron deficiency in young adults was 38 per cent, children (26 per cent) and adult group (11 per ...