UAE: Mohap launches plan to offer tips on healthy lunch box to mothers

Abu Dhabi - The ‘School Lunch Box’ programme involves educational activities to raise mothers’ awareness about the proper ways to prepare the lunch box

The Ministry of Health and Prevention (Mohap) has rolled out a plan to help mothers prepare their kids’ lunch boxes in the best possible way, so it promotes healthy lifestyle among children.

The ‘School Lunch Box’ programme, which runs till September 9, is part of the ‘back-to-school’ campaign. It includes several innovative awareness activities that aim to provide parents with the necessary skills to prepare their kids’ lunch boxes and encourage them to eat healthy foods and avoid calorie-rich ones.

The programme involves a set of educational activities aimed at raising mothers’ awareness about the proper ways to prepare the lunch box. It also has virtual culinary courses to inform community members about the healthy ingredients of the school lunch box and ways of its storage.

It includes a live cooking show on how to prepare snacks and healthy meals, in addition to handing out recipe booklets and lunch box packing tips at the shopping malls across the country.

The ministry will publish awareness-raising messages on its social media platforms to help individuals make smart choices about the healthy nutritional value of their children’s school lunch box.

The launch of the ‘School Lunch Box’ plan is part of the ministry’s ongoing efforts to organise awareness programmes aimed at promoting preventive behaviours and sound practices among the children, said Dr Hussain Abdul Rahman Al Rand, assistant undersecretary for the public health sector.

This falls within Mohap’s keenness to raise healthy and active generations, provide mental and physical safety, and enhance healthcare levels according to the best international practices, he added.

Al Rand noted that the programme falls within the national initiative ‘Promoting healthy lifestyles awareness in society’, with the importance of consolidating the preventive aspect and reducing lifestyle-related diseases.

Al Rand underlined that prevention of childhood obesity is a national priority.

Obesity is one of the leading factors of non-communicable diseases, which have become one of the global health challenges in the past years, pointed out Al Rand. He stressed that the prevalence of obesity hampers development efforts, reduces the quality of life in society, and increases the financial burden borne by healthcare systems.

Nouf Khamis Al Ali, deputy director, health promotion department, said: “The school lunch bag is an essential part of a child’s diet and is also considered one of the main reasons that could pose a threat to children with obesity, through the wrong choices of the quality of diets provided by the parents.

Hence, this programme aims to raise the community’s awareness about the need to provide healthy food for school students, build the capacity of the community to adopt healthy lifestyles and equip them with the necessary skills, create a health-supportive environment, and engage community bodies and institutions in health promotion plans.

She pointed out that a school lunch box recipe booklet was developed by a specialised team in the ministry, with 20 local and international recipes, while taking into account speed of preparing them and views of families from various nationalities and cultures in the country.

reporters@khaleejtimes.com

• Abu Dhabi