Dubai: It’s no secret that the UAE has an obesity problem — especially among children. In 2013, the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) found that one in every three children in the UAE was obese.

In 2014, another Unicef study, which surveyed 5,000 scholchildren from the UAE, found that 68 per cent of them did not exercise or exercised for less than an hour a day. Like maths, English or science, healthy eating is something that should be taught at a young age at school and home.

Following such studies educational and health authorities have taken strict measures to ensure that healthy eating is practised among schoolchildren.

In 2014, the Ministry of Education formed a specialist team to monitor school canteens and make sure they are providing healthy options at reasonable prices, while the Dubai Health Authority made it mandatory for all schools providing meals to pupils to follow healthy nutritional guidelines to avoid penalties.

Such findings have also opened the eyes of schools and parents about importance of healthy eating in school.

To learn more about some of the changes implemented, Gulf News interviewed schools, parents and students on the issue.

 

Indian High School, Dubai

CEO Ashok Kumar said the school has a range of healthy food options from brown bread sandwiches, idli (savoury cake), cornflakes, and fruit boxes to milk and juices, including fresh juices too.

He said prices are kept low.

“Chips, chocolates, candies, colas and aerated drinks are banned in the canteen. There has been a lot of awareness and availability of healthy food choices for the past few years,” he said.

He said teachers also routinely monitor the contents of children’s lunch boxes, especially at the pre-primary and primary level.

“In case a child regularly brings in junk food, the teachers communicate with the concerned parents regarding the issue, either through the School Diary or via a telephone call. The benefits of healthy eating are continuously reiterated in class too by teachers,”

Pupils’ health is also maintained through regular sports classes, said Kumar, adding that these classes include football, basketball and athletics to encourage students towards a healthy lifestyle.

These classes are held early morning before regular school begins, he said.

“The Indian High School, Junior organises a ‘Fitness for Life’ programme for overweight children. It is run by the joint effort of the school doctor and the Physical Education department. The doctor monitors the weight of the children and devises a special diet for them. The PE Department tailors a fitness routine for them. These classes are held five days a week and are free,” he said.

 

Taaleem, which has more than 8,000 students enrolled in its 11 schools in Dubai and Abu Dhabi exerts effort in maintaining a healthy diet among their students.

 

Taleem Schools

Clive Pierrepont, Director of Communications at Taaleem, said the schools’ menus, which change daily always include a wide choice of healthy fresh fruits, juices, salads and vegetables.

He said the menu sometimes also includes organic items along with wholegrain bread and pasta options.

“At our new Dubai British School in Jumeirah Park, we have been working for a whole year with Michelin-starred chef Gary Rhodes to not only elevate the school dining experience to a level not previously seen in schools but also to stress the socially important side of learning table manners, etiquette and to encourage the dying art of conversation over meals,” said.

Pierrepont said school lunches should not just be about refuelling for children — they should be about learning the social skills one needs to succeed in the world. “We see lunch as a vital part of the curriculum.”

As for food items banned at Taaleem schools, Pierrepont said these include nuts, crisps, and foods with a high sugar content and fizzy drinks.

“Our pupils’ health is regularly and closely monitored — not only on an informal basis by our teaching staff but regularly by the schools’ nurses and doctors whose responsibility it is to measure and monitor their health and physical development. If a child gains an abnormal amount of weight, depending on the age of the child, parents or the child or both are consulted and counselled by the medical professionals in our schools.

The cause of the weight gain and a strategy for returning to a healthy weight will be discussed and a joint strategy to achieve this is agreed upon,” he said.

 

Wesgreen International School, Sharjah

At Wesgreen International School in Sharjah, the early years school and primary schools do not have canteens (nursery to grade 4), however students from grade five to 13, on the other hand benefit from the school’s healthy canteen offering

“We do not offer canteen services from nursery to grade 4, as our students are young. We do, however, ask that parents send healthy food options and ban all chocolates, sweets, soda drinks, potato chips and other unhealthy snacks,” said Deputy Headmaster Asif Mahmoud.

Mahmoud said at the beginning of each year, the school puts up on its website healthy lunch alternatives, and in KG1, the school incorporate a “fruit time” daily, to encourage students to include fruit in their diet.

“Our Physical Education department also tries to help promote the idea of a healthy lifestyle to our families by offering information during our Parent Information Day,” he said.

To encourage students to maintain a healthy diet, Mahmoud said the school often talks about healthy eating during weekly assemblies, circle time and science lessons.

“While the school’s physical education programme helps students stay active through practical lessons, it also inculcates in them an attitude and concept of staying fit through healthy eating,” he said.

For pupils in grade five and above, Mahmoud said the school makes sure that the food offered is healthy by contracting with a catering company that is monitored by the Ministry of Health and among the healthy options available are Caesar salad, Chef’s salad, fruit cups and vine leaves, which are all are priced at Dh10.

“The catering company submits its initial menu plan to the school’s Senior Leadership Team, taking into account the age group (10 -17 years) and SLT’s requirements on providing healthy food. The Student Council also reviews the menu and makes suggestions based on prior student feedback. The catering company then creates a customised menu keeping in mind the choices approved by the SLT,” he said.

 

Public school in Abu Dhabi

M.F., a public schoolteacher in the capital said that she had not witnessed a change in her school’s menu in three years.

“The canteen food is cold and not healthy. They sell things like popcorn, cookies and cold sandwiches which are likely to contain bacteria. If you go to a private school, on the other hand, where I’ve sent my daughter, sure the food there is more expensive but it’s also significantly healthier.”

 

British International School, Abu Dhabi

Patrick O’Neill, a grade five teacher and primary assistant head of pupil well-being at the British International School in Abu Dhabi revealed that every several months or so, his school holds a meeting with teachers, parents and their catering company to discuss healthy food options for the school’s pupils.

“It is a joint agreement between all those involved. Our menu system ranks food items according to the colour of the ‘dot’ next to each product with green representing the healthiest products such as salads, amber reflecting something that’s a little less healthy like sandwiches and red being for items such as French fries.”

However, Patrick also explained that his school had recently switched from using regular potatoes to sweet potatoes for their fries, which are a healthier alternative. “We didn’t inform the students of that change for obvious reasons and the fries remained one of the most popular snacks on the menu.”