‘Healthy School Lunchbox’ programme launched

The Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) organised, the “Healthy School Lunchbox” in Ajman. The event comes in the wake of launching the “Healthy School Lunchbox” programme by MoHAP’s Health Education and Promotion Department in association with Carrefour Stores (run by Majid Al Futtaim Group in the UAE). The programme activities will last until Sept.14.

Launched in five emirates including Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah, the programme is focusing on three main activities including awareness platforms at Carrefour Stores.

These platforms would help provide mothers with the healthy ways of preparing the lunch box through healthy recipes prepared by the chef and raising their awareness about the appropriate shopping skills, by educating them how to read the food label of food products and how to choose the healthy food alternatives for their children.

Additionally, a number of workshops will be held for the employees of MoHAP, medical districts, in addition to launching social media campaign on MoHAP’s social medial platforms, which includes publishing healthy recipes, so as to cover as many mothers as possible all around the country.

Dr Fadila Mohamed Sherif, Director of MoHAP’s Health Education & Promotion Department, said: “The Healthy Lunchbox programme is part of the activities of the national initiative “Promoting Healthy Lifestyles in the Society” which aims at consolidating the preventive aspect, scaling down the rate of lifestyle-related diseases and reducing obesity rates among children by 2021.

Sherif noted that the school lunchbox is an integral part of the healthy nutrition for children and it’s also one of the main reasons for obesity among children owing to the improper choice of meals by parents.

She underlined MoHAP’s keenness on launching awareness initiatives and campaigns to raise the community health awareness and to encourage the adoption of healthy lifestyles as well. This comes as part of MoHAP’s strategy aiming to provide comprehensive and integrated healthcare in innovative and sustainable ways to ensure the prevention of diseases in society.

For his part Philippe Peguilhan, Country Manager of Carrefour UAE at Majid Al Futtaim Retail, said: “We are delighted to partner with the Ministry of Health to organise events that serve Carrefour visitors across the UAE. We do believe in the importance of adopting healthy lifestyles, especially for children. We will, through this campaign, sow the seeds of the healthy upbringing and food culture by providing parents with healthy recipes, appropriate dietary alternatives and how to read the food labels for each product.”

Nouf Khamis, Deputy Director of Health Education and Promotion department said: “We are preparing quick and healthy recipes booklet for the school lunchbox, taking into account the views of families coming from various nationalities and cultures after holding a series of workshops and meetings with a number of mothers in schools.

Recently, as part of “Ma’kom” initiative activities, the Ministry of Health and Prevention launched the second phase of the media awareness campaign “Beat the Habit Fight Extra Sugar” to raise awareness about the health risks associated with the overconsumption of sugar-sweetened beverages or any other sweeteners, according to WAM.

The campaign, which will continue till Nov.30, with a purpose to enhance the interaction with the individuals through all MOHAP’s “Ma’kom” media channels and social media platforms, in a bid to protect them from the commercials and promotional campaigns which attract the people to buy sweetened beverages.

Dr Hussein Abdel Rahman Al Rand, Undersecretary of the Ministry’s Health Assistant Sector, Health Centres and Clinics, pointed out that the campaign falls under the national initiative “Promoting Healthy Lifestyles in the Society” which aims to stimulate the individuals to adopt healthy lifestyles, eat healthy food, engage in physical activity, quit smoking and build a healthy society.

He hailed the cabinet resolution in terms of adding the sugar-sweetened beverages or any other sweeteners to the selective tax as of January 2020.

Dr Fadila Mohamed Sherif, Director of MoHAP’s Health Education & Promotion Department, said: “The campaign “Beat the Habit Fight Extra Sugar” aims at curbing the overconsumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, is part of the “Ma’kom” initiative, which aims to promote the awareness of healthy lifestyles by providing the community with the information and skills needed to adopt healthy lifestyles. The initiative also contributes to creating health-friendly environments that enable individuals to adopt and practice healthy behavioirs.”