Helping Students Stay Healthy

By+Wang+hairong

how much does the nutritional content of the following three dairy products vary： pure milk， manufactured milk tea and homemade Mongolian milk tea？ To find the answer， students in Beijing yu Cai School recently conducted an experiment.

First， students poured 50 ml of each dairy product into separate containers and boiled them. Then， after adding 10 ml of vinegar to solidify the protein， students stirred the mixtures with chopsticks until their water content evaporated. By comparing how much protein sediment was left behind， students were able to deduce that manufactured milk tea sold in market contains little protein.

“Students spend most of their time in school， which makes it an important venue for teaching them healthy eating and home economics，” Ma Guansheng told China Education Daily. Ma is deputy director of the National Institute for Nutrition and Food Safety under the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. He was also the chief editor of the 2014 Chinese Children and Teenager Nutrition and Health Report.

Ma used the term “shiyu”， which literately translates into “eating education，” to refer to education on healthy eating and related home economics. According to the report， eating education not only imparts knowledge about nutrition and safety， but also Chinas culinary culture， etiquette， and basic living skills such as grocery shopping， cooking， time management and budgeting.

Ma suggests that schools offer courses in eating education and organize activities that give students first-hand experience. He believes that eating education as a subject could help foster healthy eating habits among students.

dietary shortcomings

The report reveals that many students， parents and school teachers in China do not have adequate knowledge about nutrition.

Only about 10 percent of primary and middle school students are aware of the Dietary Guidelines for Chinese People. The guidelines advise people to choose food wisely so as to maintain health. China released its first such guidelines in 1989， which were subsequently amended in 1997， 2007 and 2011. The 2011 version produced by the Chinese Nutrition Society is currently in use.

In addition， only 37 percent of primary school students in less-developed central and west China know which foods are rich in protein.

Many rural parents sell the eggs laid by their own hens to buy instant noodles for their children， not realizing that eggs are more nutritious， according to Ma. Whereas a lot of urban parents believe that food supplements are nutritious and tend to feed them to their children indiscriminately， causing precocity among some children.endprint

Many parents are inclined to cater to their childrens taste， so they often buy their children sugar-loaded beverages and fried snacks， the report says. Some parents even deny food to children as punishment for mistakes， which can affect their childs appetite.

Many teachers also lack sufficient nutritional knowledge. According to the report， a survey of primary schools in six cities demonstrated that only 40 percent of teachers were aware of the dietary guidelines. Kitchens in small schools do not usually hire nutritionists， and in Beijing， only half of the citys schools have them.

Furthermore， some students have improper eating habits. The report reveals that 4.9 percent， 10.2 percent and 8.7 percent of primary， middle and high school students， respectively， skip breakfast for more than three days in a week. A majority of primary and middle school students do not have a nutritionally balanced breakfast. Quite a large number of students eat while watching television or surfing the Internet.

Breakfast is very important for children，and nutritious breakfast can boost studentsphysical and mental development， said Hu Xiaoqi， a research fellow with the National Institute for Nutrition and Food Safety.

Inadequate nutrition knowledge and poor eating habits can lead to health problems among children. A survey conducted in the capital cities of six provinces showed that among children above 10 years old， 5 percent had an abnormally high level of triglyceride in their blood， indicating higher risks of artery sclerosis； 2.6 percent and 2.7 percent had high blood pressure or high blood glucose levels.

Unhealthy diets can result in deficiencies or excesses of nutrition. A 2010 national physical examination on students revealed that more than 5 percent of female students aged 7-22 suffered from malnutrition， whereas on the other hand， an increasing percentage of children aged 7-18 were overweight. In 2010， out of every 100 children， nine boys and five girls were obese.

Weak link

Traditionally， Chinese schools do not offer home economics as a separate course. School kitchens generally do not engage children in food preparation， either. At home， children seldom help parents with housework. The report says that only 40.1 percent of primary and middle school students report engaging in housework and their average work time is only 16 minutes. Many students do not even know how to fry an egg.

Moreover， some urban children have no idea about how fruit and vegetables are grown. While some schools organize students to visit farms， students do little more than pick fruits and vegetables.endprint

Hu told a story about a farm visit organized by one primary school. Students， excited about the opportunity to harvest turnips and sweet potatoes， arrived at the farm， only to find the these vegetables had already been pulled out from the soil and piled up in the field. The only thing left for them to do was put the vegetables into their bags. The school made the arrangement to prevent students from injury and to save them the trouble.

Food education as a subject is in a preliminary stage in China， said Chen yongxiang， Executive vice President of the China Association for Student Nutrition and Health Promotion. He added that the government has included popularizing diet and nutrition knowledge in a national development outline.

To boost awareness of nutrition among students， the government set May 20 as National Student Nutrition Day. The 25th such day was celebrated on May 17 in Beijing Primary School， a top school in the capital city. During the event， the 2014 Chinese Children and Teenager Nutrition and Health Report was released， and 24 model schools excelling at student nutrition and health education were recognized. Nutrition knowledge contests and consultations were also held.

In recent years， non-profit organizations have also launched food education programs.

In 2010， the Chinese Nutrition Society and the National Institute for Nutrition and Food Safety launched the China Child Nutrition and Health Education Program. The program aimed at developing textbooks and toolkits for nutrition and health education， training relevant teachers， and delivering related courses. From the spring of 2013 to May 2014， the program team had distributed nutrition education materials to more than 1.5 million students at over 8，000 rural schools.

Currently， eating education classes have been piloted in some primary and middle schools in Shanghai as well. The course， covering food safety as well as nutrition and hygiene， is customized to students age.

While schools can play a role in nutrition education， parents should be childrens primary teachers in this field， Hu said. She suggests that parents foster good habits in their children by setting examples and involving them in housework.

“Doing housework should be an important part of childrens life. It can cultivate their sense of responsibility， which is more important than book learning，” Hu said. She advises parents to involve children as much as possible in grocery shopping and meal preparation.

Government departments， families， schools， communities and businesses should all shoulder responsibility in eating education and pool their strengths in solving foodrelated problems confronting students， Ma said.endprint