Eat Healthy Stay Healthy

With a chant of "Eat Healthy Stay Healthy", “Say No to Junk Food” the students took out a food parade in the school as a part of a campaign to create aware about Healthy Eating Habits specially among their peers who are the future of the nation. The parade went around the school and ended at the School canteen where the students chanted food slogans and also talked to the students in the playground telling them about healthy eating.

Good nutrition is incredibly important for kids even though maintaining it is often difficult for their parents. There’s no doubt about it: Kids are picky eaters. Some kids only want to eat one type of food, some kids won’t try any new foods and some kids won’t eat any foods of a particular color. Proper nutrition is essential during childhood so that a child grows to obtain a healthy height and weight, can concentrate in school and does not have any nutritional deficiencies. To further educate the students about healthy food a Health Talk was organized for the students. Students were told about the five components / elements of Food which should be included in every meal i.e. grains, dairy products, proteins, fruits vegetables through Power Point presentation. They were explained why they should inculcate the habit of eating the fresh fruits, salads and nuts in between the meals as a healthy snack. The ill- effects of consuming canned juices, carbonated beverages due to the presence of chemicals and sugar in large amount were also highlighted in the session. The students were asked to skip fries, chips, pasta etc. rather choose fresh fruits. They were asked to take care of their portion size of food in order to remain active, smart , healthy and energetic. They were informed that excessive eating results in overweight issues and make a person lethargic and dull.

Learning about the importance of proper nutrition at a young age helps to establish lifelong healthy eating habits and ensures good health of children. So we decided to engage our students into learning about fruits, vegetables, importance of milk, water , staying away from junk food in a rather interesting way. A show and tell on the topic Eat Healthy Stay Healthy was organizedin the school premises. It was a delight to see the talking fruits and vegetables in the form of our students. The idea of traffic light was used by the students beautifully to highlight the foods in three categories, Healthy – Green Light to Go ahead and eat , Not so Healthy – Yellow Light to go slow on them, Unhealthy – Red light to put a stop on them. Many students highlighted the importance of herbs and spices , a rich legacy of which is found in India. Students also talked about the foods which give the different regions of India a distinctive identity and have very distinctive flavours. It was a pleasure to see the effort and research put by them in showcasing the national fruits and talking about food of the partner countries. Students came dressed as junk food items, junk food plates which they obviously love to eat but spoke with conviction and passion about the harmful effects emphasizing that all that tastes good is not necessarily healthy.

Students enjoyed making 3D Craft with real fruits and vegetables.

In order to promote the healthy eating habits in the students and to inculcate the love for fruits and vegetables, an art and craft activity was organized for the students of class 3 and 4 . The students enjoyed drawing and colouring their favourite fruits and vegetables. The students also drew and coloured different beverages and other food items .

Making posters and writing slogans in the classroom is an exciting opportunity for students to come up with creative and novel ways to depict concepts and ideas. A Poster and slogan writing competition on “Eat Healthy Stay healthy” was conducted for the Class 3 and 4 students. It was a rare treat to see the students engrossed in designing posters and slogans using their creativity. They rendered some very beautiful colourful messages on paper in form of posters and slogans as they brought their ideas to life. It was an enjoyable experience for the students and I take pride in sharing their work with you.

Nowadays, more and more people are suffering from many serious health problems such as heart attack, obesity, anorexia and so on. All these occurred due to the imbalance diet. Good eating habits are the key in maintaining and improving one’s health regardless of ages, gender, occupation, or location. Of course, staying active plays an important role in our life, but eating the wrong kind or quantity of food could jeopardize our health. Therefore, having good eating habits are far more important than just staying active to maintain a healthy lifestyle. The best eating habits that you can develop are the ones that allow you to enjoy what you eat, and at the same time provide you with a balanced diet and good variety of wholesome food. So in order to tackle this menacing problem we decided that the sooner the children are told about good eating habits the deeper they will get embedded in their psyche and become a part of their everyday life. We introduced the topic to the students through presentations and video clips so as to generate interest, arouse curiosity in them and initiate inculcation of good eating habits. Video/ PPT on Benefits of eating fruits & vegetables were shown to the children which was followed by an explanation & discussion about the nutrients present in the fruits & vegetables and the diseases from which they protect us. Students were very excited to see the fruits & vegetables speaking about themselves. Students had numerous questions to ask and also told about their own tastes and preferences. The students learnt to classify food items into different food groups from the video NUTRITION ( FOOD PYRAMID), They enjoyed the PICK – DRAG - DROP game and learned the importance of eating different food items during the 3 meals of the day ( Breakfast , Lunch , Dinner) From the video on HEALTHY DIET they learned about the essential substances present in the food. At the end of the activity they were able to group them into carbohydrates , proteins, minerals , vitamins , fats and dairy products. PPT / Video on HEALTHY & JUNK FOOD helped them in identifying & differentiating between healthy and junk food. An Interactive session was held with the students & discussions done related to their own food habits. From the video GERMS SMART – WASH YOUR HAND! Students learned about personal hygiene & environmental cleanliness. They enjoyed and sung the song “WASH WASH WASH YOUR HANDS". The students learned about MICROBES ( Virus , bacteria, ) and the diseases they spread from the GERMS MOVIE . They also learnt about preventive measures one should take to protect oneself . They understood the importance of personal hygiene and started using sanitizer and handkerchief ( while sneezing and coughing). This was followed by the video on SMART KIDS FIGHT BACK! which taught the students how to fight back the germs by taking preventive measures. ( CLEAN , SEPARATE, COOK , CHILL ) During these video sessions, we exchanged information with the students, helping them understand how important it is to eat right and encouraging them to imbibe healthy eating habits. These sessions are proving very helpful for the children in making them aware about relationship between right food and health. During lunch time it is a treat to see the children discussing about the health component of each other’s food. They have also been discussing about what they learn with their parents and asking their mothers to serve healthy meals at home. It was observed that the more children learn about food and nutrition, the more likely they are to eat fruits, vegetables, and other healthful foods.