City schools are no longer confined being the mind-developing centres of young children; but have started concentrating full time on the students health as well. Some of the city schools have gone a step ahead and appointed professional dieticians and doctors,who are on their regular pay roll,to keep check on the health of the students. These doctors and dieticians will not only check the tiffins of students but also prepare individual diet-charts after analysing their body-mass-index (BMI). Students and their parents are also being counselled. According to a recent study conducted by Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER),around 15 per cent of the citys children are obese. In addition to the dieticians and doctors,schools are also hiring instructors for yoga and aerobics,and physical fitness experts who would visit the schools on regular basis. The basic idea is to change the mindset of children about food habits. Ours is the first school that has taken a lead in health awareness on such a scale. The school has outsourced this project to a city based consultant company that is managing the entire project. Apart from hiring professionals,there would be one activity on healthy food every week in the school. This would include seminar,poster making competition,slogan writing,debate and declamation,etc, said Rakesh Sachdeva,Principal of DAV Model School,Sector 15. Under the project,there is also an attempt to add nutritious canteens in schools where no junk food would be available. The canteens would only serve food cooked in a centralised kitchen and shall provide a balanced and nutritious diet. Another school to have hired a dietician on regular basis is Carmel Convent School,Sector 9. Apart from regular health camps we have a specialised school programme called simpli health. The dietician takes care of health problems of the children. Also,specialised health camps on skin,bones,hair,dental,etc are organised quite frequently in the school, said Punita Singh,counsellor at Carmel Convent School. St Johns School,Sector 26,is another school that is contemplating on health awareness at a bigger level. Regular doctors and dieticians from PGIMER are already holding seminars and check-ups in the schools. Based on the health condition of a child,their parents would also be counselled individually regularly. The alarming numbers of lifestyle diseases among children anticipated in the country in the coming years is also one of the factors to incorporate such a project in the school. The objective could not be achieved if we do not propagate this awareness among the parents. Thus,parents would also be counselled, said Sachdeva. It is definitely an important aspect. If children could be made health conscious at a young age,they will develop healthy habits. In fact,all schools should incorporate health awareness as a regular feature, said Minakshi Kalra,a parent.
