Public Health Education on the Dangers of Using Borax in Food for Parents of Kindergarten Students at Pertiwi School, Bojongmengger Village

Authors

  • Siti Rahmah Kurnia Ramdan STIKes Muhammadiyah ciamis
  • Anna L Yusuf STIKes Muhammadiyah Ciamis
  • Davit Nugraha STIKes Muhammadiyah Ciamis
  • Panji Wahlanto STIKes Muhammadiyah Ciamis

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.56359/velocity.v1i1.656

Keywords:

food safety, borax, health education, parental awareness, community engagement

Abstract

ntroduction: Food safety is a key public health concern. Borax, a chemical meant for industrial use, is sometimes illegally added to food to improve texture and shelf life. This practice is harmful, especially to children. This program aimed to educate parents of kindergarten students at Pertiwi School, Bojongmengger Village, about the health risks of borax and how to identify safer food options.

Objective: This activity aimed to raise parental awareness of the dangers of borax, promote healthier food choices, and foster community vigilance in avoiding harmful food additives.

Method: This community education program utilized an interactive educational session was conducted, including presentations on borax’s chemical nature, legal status, and health risks. Visual aids posters were used to show real-life poisoning cases. Participants engaged in discussions and Q&A sessions, received educational leaflets, and completed pre- and post-test sheets to measure increased knowledge.

Result: The program was attended by 30 parents. Evaluation results showed a significant improvement in knowledge, with 95,95% of participants able to identify borax risks and list safer food alternatives. Many committed to avoiding suspicious processed foods and sharing the information with others in their community.

Conclusion: The public health education program successfully raised awareness among the parents about the risks of using borax in food. The increased knowledge is expected to lead to safer food choices and a healthier environment for the children in Bojongmengger Village.

Community Implication: This initiative highlights the importance of community-based health education in improving food safety practices. Engaging parents as key agents of change can significantly reduce the exposure of children to harmful food additives. Follow-up programs are recommended to maintain awareness and to extend the reach of this health education to other community groups, including local food vendors and school staff.

Keyword: food safety, borax, health education, parental awareness, community engagement.

References

Aida, F. et al. (2023) ‘REVIEW ARTICEL REVIEW : CIRCULAR ANALYSIS OF THE USE OF LEGAL AND ILLEGAL’, 6(1), pp. 118–126.

Asyifa, N.S., Ariastuti, R. and Qonitah, F. (2022) ‘Analysis of Borax Contaminants in Sempol Snacks in Gonilan Village Kartasura’, 5(2).

Christina, O.D., Mahesa, S. and Wirawati, N. (2024) ‘Determination of Borax Levels in Food Circulating in East Semarang Markets Using the UV-Vis Spectrophotometric Method’, Jurnal Farmasi & Sains Indonesia, 6(2 SE-), pp. 168–173. Available at: https://doi.org/10.52216/jfsi.vol6no2p168-173.

Khoiroh (2024) ‘Edukasi Zat Aditif Makanan Berbahaya dan Analisa Boraks’, 6(1).

Opinion, S. (2013) ‘Scientific Opinion on the re-evaluation of boric acid ( E 284 ) and sodium’, 11(10), pp. 1–52. Available at: https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2013.3407.

Pada, S.S. (2025) ‘DETERMINATION OF BORAX CONTENT IN VARIOUS FOOD’, 7(1), pp. 70–74.

Pongsavee, M. (2009) ‘Journal of Occupational Medicine and Effect of borax on immune cell proliferation and sister chromatid exchange in human chromosomes’, 6, pp. 1–6. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1186/1745-6673-4-27.

Pratiwi, Y.S. et al. (2020) ‘Borax as a Non-Food Grade Addivite in the Perspective of Foof Safety and Human Resources Formation: A Literature Review’, 2020, pp. 119–126. Available at: https://doi.org/10.11594/nstp.2020.0518.

Rosita, Y. (2023) ‘Borax analysis with spectrophotometry on meat bakso of frozen food that sold in modern markets and traditional markets in Palembang’, 05(01), pp. 19–35. Available at: https://doi.org/10.32734/ijoep.v5i1.12342.

Tarigan, S.W. et al. (2020) ‘Jurnal Mantik’, 4(3), pp. 1941–1946.

Zhang, N. et al. (2021) ‘Analytical methods for determining the peroxide value of edible oils: A mini-review’, Food Chemistry, 358(January), p. 129834. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2021.129834.

Downloads

Published

07/20/2025

How to Cite

Kurnia Ramdan, S. R., Yusuf, A. L., Nugraha, D., & Wahlanto, P. (2025). Public Health Education on the Dangers of Using Borax in Food for Parents of Kindergarten Students at Pertiwi School, Bojongmengger Village. Velocity: Community Development and Empowerment Studies, 1(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.56359/velocity.v1i1.656

Issue

Vol. 1 No. 1 (2025): Velocity: Community Development and Empowerment Studies

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Siti Rahmah Kurnia Ramdan, Anna L Yusuf, Davit Nugraha, Panji Wahlanto

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Articles published in Velocity Journal are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Under this license, authors retain the copyright of their work. Users are free to copy, distribute, display, and perform the work, and to make derivative works, even for commercial purposes, as long as appropriate credit is given to the original author.

Creative Commons License
Velocity Journal is Copyrigt and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.