Chennai: “Since she was six, my daughter Sharadha was addicted to junk food. She would stuff herself with chips and pastries after school and would empty her lunchbox into the dustbin each day. It was impossible for us to change that habit,” said Shreedhar S.
“Now, at the age of 12, she has started making an honest effort to eat healthy food, thanks to Chennai Slim and Fit programme through which teachers tutored her on the ill effects of junk food and importance of being ‘not obese’,” he said.
“We were unaware of WHO’s Comprehensive School Health Manuals until the Slim and Fit Program was introduced. We are now seeing our children indulging in more physical activities and following healthy eating habits,” said a CBSE school teacher.
The Chennai Slim and Fit programme was designed in compliance with the Comprehensive School Health Manuals provided by CBSE. The manuals, which were introduced by WHO to encourage positive health behaviors among children, were introduced to CBSE students. However, only after M.V. Hospital for Diabetes conducted a study and decided to start the slim and fit programme, were the manuals used.
Prior to implementation of the programme, it was seen that in CBSE schools alone, 22 per cent girls and 13.5 per cent boys were obese. In corporation schools, it was found that 9.5 per cent girls and 9.5 per cent boys were obese.
“We conducted a study focusing on seven CBSE schools with 1,357 students. Following the implementation of the programme for a year, we saw a positive impact wherein there was an obvious reduction in the Body Mass Index (BMI) and body fat of some,” said Vijay Viswanathan, head and chief diabetologist, M.V Hospital for Diabetes, Royapuram.
“An obese child may initially be looked at as an extremely healthy child. He/she slowly becomes obese which can be a major issue as it can lead to the child developing high blood pressure or arthritis at the age of 10 or 12,” said dietician Dharini Krishnan. “It is important that parents and teachers help the child eat right and exercise enough,” she stressed.
The aim of the programme is to include topics on healthy food habits in the syllabus, introduce health cards wherein the students are graded based on their improvement in health and finally to stress on the need to conduct awareness campaigns on importance of combating childhood obesity. Impressed by the success of the programme, Vijay said, they plan to extend the programme to all CBSE schools in the city (132 schools) and cover them in a phased manner.
