Dimapur, March 14 (DIPR): The Nagaland Board of School Education, Kohima in a notification has informed to all schools that the consumption of foods high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS), popularly known as junk food, is associated with increased risk of certain diseases such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, chronic inflammation and hyperinsulinemia with a risk of cardiovascular diseases in later life.
These diseases and childhood obesity have been reportedly found to affect the cognitive and physical development of children adversely causing an irreparable loss to the society.
In this context, the ministry of Women and Child Development constituted a working group which submitted its report on addressing consumption of foods high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) and promotion of healthy snacks in schools of India. The report comprehensively covers the issue and provides invaluable insights on how to control the endemic problem of consumption of junk food available especially in and around schools. The detailed report is also available at http://wed.nic.in.
The recommendations of the above report have direct bearing on schools and therefore, all schools are advised to implement it especially with reference to the following points:
i) Schools are to take measures to ensure that the canteens do not cater any HFSS food such as chips, fried foods, soft drinks etc. and also control the sale of HFSS foods within a radius of 200 meters from the school compound.
ii) The schools should have a school canteen management committee comprising of 7-10 members, including the teachers, parents, students and school canteen operators. The committee shall be solely responsible for providing safe food to the school children. The major functions of the school canteen management committee are as follows:
• To conduct timely checking of the quality of raw materials and ingredients and decide the lunch items to be prepared in the school canteen/kitchen.
• To see that the food in schools are up to standard and meet the guidelines as outlined by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
• To avail the expertise of external resources such as nutritionists, health specialist etc. and to develop awareness materials on information regarding hygiene, physical fitness and nutrition.
• To display the contact numbers of doctors/medical officers who can be contacted in case of an emergency on notice boards, labs, canteen, etc. and other important places.
iii) Schools are to organize awareness programmes like celebration of nutrition week (1-7 September) etc. for nutritious food and avoidance of HFSS foods.
iv) The following additional activities are suggested for promoting healthier eating habits:
• Education on quality nutrition and integration of physical activities during the school hours.
• Teaching students about the importance of a healthy active lifestyle and following healthy eating habits.
• Creating a set of activities such as debate on food safety, competitions for senior students on topics related to hygiene and sanitation, advantages of healthy lifestyle options etc.
• Making children aware about obesity, HFSS foods and importance of physical activity.
v) Schools may undertake community outreach programme to disseminate the messages related to health to the community members and to get their support by organizing interactions between school students and neighbourhood communities.
vi) Schools are asked to regularly monitor the height, weight and body mass index (BMI) for all students and based on their trajectory provide individualized counselling.
vii) Inspection of lunch boxes to minimize the consumption of unhealthy foods may be done by the schools.
viii) Schools should also promote nutrition and health awareness through co-scholastic/co-curricular activities classes and also through tools like posters, collage and other visual aids.
All schools have been requested to take necessary measures to sensitise and orient students about healthy eating habits as suggested above, as part of compulsory co-curricular activities and also under health and physical education subject.
