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Regulations re-enforced in school canteens

DUBAI — Regulations governing school canteens need to be re-enforced to cover the recent lapses and to ensure that children have access to healthy foods only, said a senior health official yesterday.

Dr Nasim Mohammed Ibrahim, Director of Primary Healthcare Department in Sharjah, Ministry of Health, who also represented the UAE in the recently held 8th AGCC School Health Meeting, explained that the point had been forwarded as a recommendation to the supervising committee of the School Health Department in all GCC countries, including the UAE.

"We have studied the booklet listing guidelines governing school canteens and found that it is up to international standards," she explained, adding that the regulations would not be updated, but only re-enforced.

Until recently, a supervising committee from the MoH used to visit school canteens to check the hygiene and quality of food being served.

"An MoH committee, including a nurse and doctor, used to pay visits and even collected food samples from canteens. These visits have not been carried out for a while for various reasons. Through these recommendations, we hope to resume the activity soon," she explained.

Other recommendations of the meeting included putting stress on strategic planning, fixing goals and time periods to execute tasks. It was also discussed to include representatives in the committee from the ministries of education in the GCC states.

With regard to setting up a GCC web site to promote health for schools, the meeting recommended the use of existing web sites and forums, particularly those launched by Saudi Arabia and Oman.

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