City schools warm up to healthier eating habits

Updated on: Saturday, August 27, 2011

The trend towards ensuring students eat more healthily in schools has begun to take root, with principals, teachers and parents becoming increasingly worried about rising overweight and obesity in children. Many schools today don’t just pay attention to what is served in the canteen and brought in tiffins, but also bring on board dieticians and nutritionists.

Experts said it may be just the tip of the iceberg with respect to what needs to be done to fight unhealthy eating and obesity in kids. A 2010 survey of 3,211 students by Nair Hospital had found 15% of them overweight and 6% obese. However, the first steps to fight obesity in schools are being taken.

At Christ Church School in Mazgaon, only those products approved by school authorities are made available in the canteen. At Holy Family School, Andheri (East), parents decide the menu for the school canteen.

City-based dieticians confirmed the increased awareness in schools about healthy eating. While some schools use dieticians and nutritionists, others which may not have the funds to pay for such professionals make a conscious effort to stress proper diets, said Shilpa Joshi, a dietician and nutritionist.

Joshi, who has done studies on dietary habits in Mumbai, said, “I know of many schools where students are encouraged to bring healthy food in their tiffins five days a week, and on the sixth day they are allowed to bring food of their choice. Since junk food is available everywhere, schools ensure that students have a good balance of proteins and calories in their diets.” She added that most schools have now made it compulsory for students to bring only home-cooked meals.

Many schools have restrictions in place for food that can be sold in canteens. Some take a more proactive approach. Fr Francis Swamy, principal of Holy Family School, said, “At the beginning of every academic year, we call doctors to talk to students and parents, and they put a stress on chalking out a proper food chart for kids, especially in their growing years.”

Rakesh Joshi, principal of Apeejay School in Nerul, said, “Right from kindergarten to Class X, our teachers make sure that students don’t eat junk food.” He added that the school doesn’t keep a canteen, but instructs parents to send only home-cooked food for the children.

Recently, a school in the western suburbs took a dietician on board. “Parents are more informed nowadays and want schools to take the initiative for having healthy food in the canteen,” said the principal, who did not want to be named. The principal said that some parents even want the school to offer a proper breakfast.

A few schools have availed of dieticians and nutritionists for long. “Whenever we notice cases of obesity, we immediately refer them to our dietician, who in turn gets in touch with the parents and chalks out a proper diet for the student,” said Sudeshna Chatterjee, principal of Jamnabai Narsee School, Juhu. “The main job of our dietician is to thoroughly supervise the school canteen, for both diet and hygiene. We banned junk food on the campus several years ago.”

While on the one hand, the state board encourages sports by giving students extra marks in Class X students, on the other hand rising obesity shows stronger initiatives may be needed. Rehana Salamat, principal of Anjuman-I-Islam Allana English High School, said, “I have noticed that many students depend on junk food and are very inactive. I also know of students who skip breakfast at home and then eat in the school canteen. One of the main problems is that parents don’t encourage healthy food habits. We haven’t yet put in place any restrictions on food available in our canteen, but we might soon.”

THE RIGHT MENU

Growing children need proteins. Dairy products (milk, curd, paneer etc), dals and pulses should be a part of their daily diet. For non-vegetarians, chicken and fish is advised, but not red meat

Fresh fruits and vegetables are very important

Children should regularly consume small amounts of dates and nuts, like almonds and walnuts. Though high in calories, they build immunity

Children should be told the ill-effects of consuming junk food

Schools and parents should emphasise sports and a healthy diet

There should be restrictions on food sold in school canteens

City schools warm up to healthier eating habits

More Education news