The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : For a healthy lifestyle, catch them young Health & Lifestyle

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Tuesday, Jul 08, 2008
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For a healthy lifestyle, catch them young Health & Lifestyle

Ramya Kannan

Need to wean children away from unhealthy food options

CHENNAI: There is no doubt that the best way to do this is to start young. When we are talking about promoting a healthy lifestyle, the intervention can never come too soon.

With public health experts sounding the caution on lifestyle diseases, there is a need to start talking to children about healthy food options and weaning them away from unhealthy fast food options. It is also important to provide the right micronutrient input to ensure all rounded growth. Sheila Bhave, Consultant in Paediatric Research, KEM Hospital, Pune, says: “Pre-schoolers are the ideal targets for modelling healthy eating habits, good hygiene and physical activity.”

In a 2007 study conducted among 2,640 children in the 12-19 years age group, by A. Ramachandran et al (published in Diabetes Care), it was found that more than normal waist circumference was present in 23.7 per cent school children, 86.3 per cent were overweight and only 12.7 per cent were “normal”.

Sudha Vasudevan, senior nutritionist, Dr. Mohan’s Diabetes Specialities Centre, who has talked to over 10,000 school children about healthy lifestyle, says in a class of 40 students in a middle or upper middle income school, four or six (in Classes VI-XII) were obese or overweight.

Nutrition does not mean dieting or overeating, Dr. Bhave clarifies in a report she co-authored with Vaishali Madkaikar for the Galli Galli Sim Sim project (an early childhood educational initiative) of Sesame Workshop, a not-for-profit organisation. Starting with exclusive breast feeding for the first six to eight months, she suggests that parents go on to choose healthy, nourishing foods such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains that will provide rampant micronutrient deficiencies.

Just that, however, is not enough. For school-going children and adolescents, at least one hour of vigorous activity is a must everyday. Which means cutting down on television viewing, Dr. Bhave adds. She also recommends that an enabling atmosphere be created to facilitate this change, including safe roads for cycling or jogging.

Including in school canteens where healthy options should be made available. “There are no fruits in the canteen, salads or soups. There is very little choice on the healthy side.In fact, students I speak to ask me why school canteens do not stock such food if it is as good as we say it is,” Dr. Vasudevan says.

Sashwati Banerjee of Sesame Workshop, “When we have good models, how do we achieve positive modification of behaviour in children? We package these messages attractively on the Galli Galli Sim Sim TV show and have a large education outreach programme as well.”

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