Schools help children fight obesity

Coimbatore: Even as schools begin prescribing food for students to improve learning efficiency, institutions are also implementing programmes to help obese children. Extra hours of workout and stringent diet are some components of these programmes.

Chinmaya International School has prepared a special diet for obese students. "While obesity is a common phenomenon, we feel that it is still a problem that is unique for every kid. There are standard protocols available today, but it is important to devise a customised programme for each student," said principal Shanti Krishamurthy.

A globally renowned catering service company takes care of the food served at the school, but it is the health department that works on prescribing the diet for obese kids. "Our dispensary works on this. They constantly measure the height, weight and BMI of the child. On the one hand, workout charts and activities are planned based on these physical parameters, and on the other, there is also diet that is custom-made for each child," said Shanti Krishnamurthy.

At Chinmaya, kids on this regime are served food in the dispensary. "The effect our diet and activities regime is so much that there is no obese child on the campus now," she added.

A similar programme is sketched out by K'SIRS. "We include a 1-1.5hours workout for the children at the end of the day. The diet for obese children is also different from the normal kids," said Lalitha Prakash. "We also include parents in this programme because it requires their dedication too. We advise parents not to serve junk or high-fat food for the child at home," she added.