Balanced Nutrition Practiced with Limitations during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Experience of Teachers in Subang District, West Java, Indonesia

The purpose of the study is to assess the knowledge on Balanced Nutrition and its practices among pre-school teachers in Subang district, West Java, Indonesia before and during the COVID-19 pandemic (before March 2020 vs. October 2021) and to seek differences in the knowledge and practices of teachers who attended nutrition training and those who did not attend any nutrition training. We evaluated the knowledge and practice of 142 teachers based on 10 messages of the 2014 Indonesian Balanced Nutrition Guidelines, using google online survey platform. The top three messages mostly selected by the teachers were consuming a variety of staple foods (87%), drinking adequate and safe water (87%), and eating plenty of vegetables and fruits (86%), while the least selected were enjoying a variety of foods (41%) and reading food labels (28%). A slight increase was found in teachers who consumed fruits daily, while the practice of washing hands before and during the pandemic was statistically and significantly increased (58% to 72%; p < 0.05). A slight decrease was found in teachers who consumed vegetables and animal protein, as well as performed physical exercise daily. Majority of teachers (80%) participated in some kinds of nutrition training in the last four years. The top three gaps of knowledge between trained and non-trained teachers were on physical activity and maintaining ideal body weight (64% vs. 33%; statistically significant at p < 0.05); limit intake of sweet, salty, and fatty food; and consuming high protein food, with the range between 20 to 35 percentage points. We concluded that teachers acquired knowledge on nutrition to some degree, but its application faced limitations during the pandemic. Dissemination of Balanced Nutrition should continue.