NERS NEWS — Surabaya, August 7, 2026 — Nursing Profession Program students from the Faculty of Nursing, Universitas Airlangga, through the School-Age Children Working Group, conducted a Healthy Snack Education activity for sixth-grade students of SD Muhammadiyah 9 Surabaya. The activity, held on Friday, August 7, 2026, from 8:00 to 8:15 a.m., was a promotive and preventive effort to increase children’s knowledge about the importance of choosing healthy, safe, and nutritious foods.
The activity was motivated by the habit of school-age children purchasing snacks independently around the school environment. Children often choose food based on taste, shape, color, and price without considering its cleanliness, safety, or nutritional content. Therefore, education about healthy snacks is important from an early age so that children can make wiser food choices. During the activity, students learned about the definition of healthy snacks, the characteristics of healthy and safe snacks, as well as the characteristics of unhealthy snacks or those that may pose health risks. Students were also taught how to choose snacks by paying attention to cleanliness, packaging conditions, labels, distribution permits, and expiration dates. In addition, students were introduced to examples of healthy snacks and snacks that should be avoided in the school environment.
The educational materials emphasized that healthy snacks should meet physical, biological, and chemical safety standards. Food should be free from dirt, foreign objects, insects, and other contaminants and should be prepared and served using clean ingredients and equipment. With this understanding, students were expected not only to choose snacks based on their appearance but also to consider their cleanliness and safety before purchasing them. The education was delivered through lectures and interactive discussions. The activity began with preparation and participant registration, followed by an opening session, presentation of the educational materials, discussion and question-and-answer sessions, and closing and documentation. Educational materials and examples of healthy and unhealthy snacks were used as learning media to help students understand the topic more concretely.
The activity received a positive response from the school. The sixth-grade homeroom teacher of SD Muhammadiyah 9 Surabaya stated, “This educational activity is very beneficial for our students. We hope that this kind of education can be expanded beyond SD Muhammadiyah 9.” This response demonstrates that health education for school-age children is considered important and has the potential to be implemented in other school environments. For the Nursing Profession students, the activity also served as an implementation of the nursing role in community and family nursing. The students were involved in identifying educational needs, preparing educational materials and learning media, coordinating with the school, and conducting the education and evaluation.
Through the Healthy Snack Education activity, students were expected to recognize healthy and safe foods and become more mindful when choosing the snacks they consume. Providing education from an early age is expected to help establish habits of choosing clean, safe, and nutritious foods in everyday life. This activity also represents the contribution of students from the Faculty of Nursing, Universitas Airlangga, to increasing health awareness among school-age children and promoting healthy behaviors from an early age.
Writer: Dwi Saputri Hayuningrum
