School lunches are still full of rubbish
Schools across the UAE are failing to comply with nutritional regulations and continue to dish up unhealthy food to their students.
Officials from the Ministry of Health said yesterday that 175 of the 427 government schools in Dubai and the Northern Emirates allow canteens to sell dinners deemed unhealthy by the authorities.
Dr Mariam Al Matroushi, director of the Health Legislations Department at the Ministry of Health, told 7DAYS: “This is a real challenge in our efforts to fight obesity among schoolchildren. The other programmes have been well received but nutrition has the worst reception in schools.
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School lunches remain unhealthy despite government guidelines
“Some school canteens continue to serve hot dogs, hamburgers, potato chips, breads, sugary soft drinks and juices that are clearly indicated in our guidelines as unhealthy.”
Dunia Sada, a senior staff nurse at a government school in Dubai, said many parents insist that their children eat what they like despite the health warnings, so canteen staff have to serve what is in demand.
Sada said enforcement of the nutrition health guidelines will guarantee success in the battle to reduce obesity.
Dr Khulood Eid Al Suwaidi, director of school health in Dubai Medical District, who covers government schools in Dubai, believes the education institutes are being slack because there are not enough nutritionists working in them.
“Each school has got a dedicated nurse and doctor but no nutritionist to enforce the guidelines,” said Al Suwaidi. “Also some schools are new and not well conversant with the guidelines while some school administrators simply ignore them because canteens make more money through selling unhealthy food.”
Health officials said the current bill on nutrition in schools is expected to be signed into law by the beginning of the next academic year.
“Schools that do not comply with the guidelines will face punishment once the bill comes into force,” said Dr Ola Mira, head of the School Health Department at the Ministry of Health.
She said the ministry is also working with health authorities and municipalities to come up with a unified health nutrition guideline that will add new foods to the list of those deemed unhealthy.
Government and private schools across the UAE must abide by the guidelines.
Comments
by gretaf
Wednesday, May 09 2012, 12:54PM
“It's a really interesting article! I'm an italian food educator recently relocated to Dubai and to me sounds strange that here children can still eat fast food at school. Right now in Italy every school must follow a menu set by the local health authority without even changing the color of the vegetables! Children are of course not very happy to eat 2 servings of vetetables and 1 of fruit every day as well as fish every week, they would rather eat french fries and pizza every day, but thanks to food eduction programs things are starting to change... Healthy food can surely be tastier than junk food! It's really how you mix together the ingredients and which cooking technics you use... Michelle, I would love to meet you and talk about ideas, if you are interested my email is greta.ferloni@gmail.com”
by MichelleTJ
Thursday, May 03 2012, 9:50AM
“Thank you for writing this article. This is a subject that is near and dear to my heart. With childhood diabetes on the rise in the UAE, now more than ever parents need to be more aware and informed about the nutrition being provided to their children. My business partner and I hope to be a part of that solution. In September, 2012, we will be launching a new company in Dubai called "Healthy Tummies" where parents and children can go online and easily order a fresh meal prepared daily and delivered to the child's school. Our menu will feature locally sourced and organic lunches that are not only healthy but will taste good too. Our web site will go live in July, 2012 however if you want more information now, please call me on my mobile (Michelle at 056-103-5065).”