Dubai: The Ministry of Education will revise the list of food that can be served at school canteens and ban fast food from September.
The ministry will closely monitor the sort of food offered in public as well as private schools.
According to Ahmad Abdul Rahman, director of student activities at the sports and health programmes department in the Ministry of Education, the percentage of obesity in the 740 public schools in UAE is estimated to be more than 20 per cent.
With the introduction of the Al Haraka Baraka programme (Movement is a blessing) in early 2006, 30 public schools in the country succeeded in integrating the philosophy of physical activity into the students' daily lives.
"The Ministry of Education already has a list of food and drinks permitted in schools. But the problem is that we never had a strong monitoring body to closely inspect the sort of food offered and circulated among pupils," said Abdul Rahman.
The current list will be revamped and expanded to ban snacks rich in fat such as fried burgers, fries and pizzas. Schools will be forbidden from serving chocolates in canteens, said Dr Osama Alalla, nutritionist and exercise physiologist and health expert at MoE.
The new standards will be implemented in all schools. Obesity levels are high among students in private schools, said Abdul Rahman adding that they will closely monitor the eating habits of students at five pilot schools.
With the cooperation with Mars GCC, Arab Nutrition Centre and King Saud University, the Al Haraka Baraka programme is becoming popular with more than 15,000 children partaking in the activities.
Because of the programme's success, plans are now underway to revamp and re-launch it later this year, said Christine Greeves, Corporate Affairs Manager of Mars GCC.
Abdul Rahman said 60 per cent of public schools lack physical education facilities such as gymnasiums. He said the programme does not require any high tech equipment, it basically aims to introduce the philosophy and culture of physical activity.
"The biggest problem is that more than 80 per cent of our children do not bother to eat breakfast before coming to school, which is very essential to boost and nurture their brain activities during the day. They consume chocolates and sweets instead of complex sugars such as fruits, dates, and almonds," said Dr Alalla.
For the 2007-2008 academic year, six outstanding schools were recognised for their achievement in implementing the programme.
By Siham Al Najami, Staff Reporter