The fact that nearly 40 per cent of children in the UAE are either obese or overweight calls for an urgent redressal of the problem and the Ministry of Health’s new initiative called Healthy Restaurant — as part of its national campaign, ‘Healthy Children 2021’, that aims to reduce obesity among children to 12 per cent by 2021 — is a great leap forward in this regard.
The initiative, to be launched in April, aims to encourage restaurants to align with the cause and devise healthy meals for children. This strategy would have a significant impact on altering the eating habits of children in the UAE. Having said that, the responsibility of redefining children’s approach to food is not the government’s alone. While the authorities are doing what they can, the fact is that it is parents who need to be at the forefront of this battle against child obesity. The more they guide their children to eat healthy and help them lead an active life with plenty of outdoor time and physical exercise, the less is the burden of their abdication of responsibility on the government.
