3 weeks ago
Early childhood campaign revives healthy eating with stories and songs
In India, teachers and doctors have started a special campaign to help children eat healthy food.
The campaign reminds kids that too much sugar and junk food is not good for them.
Too much sugar can cause tooth problems, diabetes, and make kids feel too hyper.
So schools are using fun songs, games, and stories to teach children.
One song tells kids to be a 'sugar sleuth,' like a detective who finds hidden sugar.
A new version of the fairy tale Hansel and Gretel changes the witch into an old lady who gives healthy snacks.
Schools are also being asked to stop giving cakes and sweets at birthday parties.
Instead, children can get fruits or stationery, like pencils.
Parents are reminded to pack healthy tiffin lunch boxes for school.
The idea is to make healthy eating fun, not scary, for children.
The Early Childhood Association (ECA) and Association for Preparatory Education and Research (Aper) revived a school campaign pushing children toward healthier food and away from sugar and junk food.
Schools have been asked to stop cakes, chocolates, sweets and packaged drinks at birthday celebrations and to avoid field trips to soft drink factories.
The campaign uses games, rhymes, retold fairy tales and a 'sugar sleuth' song to teach children about hidden sugars without creating fear.
Experts say sugar intake should ideally be 5%, and no more than 10%, of daily calorie intake, with excess linked to dental caries, type 2 diabetes, obesity and hyperactivity.
Parents are urged to pack healthy tiffins and model good habits, and several schools now replace birthday candies with fruits or stationery.
- Who
- The Early Childhood Association (ECA) and Association for Preparatory Education and Research (Aper), led by president Swati Popat Vats, with input from health experts such as Apurbo Ghosh and educator Suman Sood.
- What
- A revived healthy-eating campaign that uses stories, songs, games and rhymes to reduce children's sugar and junk food intake, including new rules for school birthdays and field trips.
- Where
- Schools in India, including those overseen by the national education boards CBSE and CISCE.
- When
- Recently revived; the article notes that last year the CBSE and CISCE boards asked schools to set up sugar boards.
- Why
- To raise awareness about the harmful effects of excessive sugar intake, which can lead to dental caries, type 2 diabetes, obesity and behavioural changes such as hyperactivity.
Key facts
- Campaign organizers
- Early Childhood Association (ECA) and Association for Preparatory Education and Research (Aper)
- Campaign lead
- Swati Popat Vats, president of ECA and Aper
- Recommended sugar intake
- Ideally 5%, not more than 10%, of daily calorie intake
- Health risks of excess sugar
- Dental caries, type 2 diabetes, obesity, behavioural changes like hyperactivity
- Birthday policy requested
- No cakes, chocolates, sweets or packaged drinks at school celebrations
- Teaching methods
- Games, rhymes, stories and songs, including a 'sugar sleuth' song and a Hansel and Gretel adaptation
- Expert quoted
- Apurbo Ghosh, director of the Institute of Child Health
- Earlier board initiative
- CBSE and CISCE asked schools to set up sugar boards last year
Quotes
Swati Popat Vats
President of the Early Childhood Association and Association for Preparatory Education and Research
“"We combined the junk food campaign and sugar awareness campaign. We have also developed stories or retold old ones and told children how they can avoid eating too much sugar. We don’t want to create fear in children regarding junk food, but we want to do it by way of games, rhymes and stories so that the impact is more permanent."”
telegraphindia.com
“"Several schools address parents during the orientation meeting and tell them not to send junk food in a child’s lunch box. If an aerated drink is not there in the refrigerator, the child will not develop the taste for it nor have access to it."”
telegraphindia.com
Sources
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