Body mass index screening of students finds more than half to be unhealthy

More than 50 per cent of the students aged between five and 15 at Orchids the International School OIS lack a healthy body mass index BMI revealed a screening conducted by the school management across all its branches in Mumbai Thane and Navi Mumbai A total of 4310 students from 16 branches were covered under the surveyAs per the survey 4979 per cent of the students were healthy while 5021 per cent of students lacked a healthy BMI Of the total students 11 per cent were found to be underweight while 3921 were overweightAlarmed by the results the management is working on personalised meal plans and exercise regimes for students who were found to be overweight or underweightDiet lack of physical activityPooja Srivastava nutritionist at OIS said ldquoI have been working at OIS for a year now and observed that many kids get junk food for lunch very often The percentage of kids lacking healthy BMI is a serious issue Parents wonrsquot see any difficulty now but this can lead to bigger health issues at a later stagerdquo ldquoOverall I have observed that these kids are overfed However as junk food covers most of their food they are undernourished I feel nutrition education should be part of the curriculum in every schoolrdquo she addedA BMI report issued by the schoolOIS Koparkhairane Principal Sangita Gajbhare told midday that the management held the screening after observing unhealthy eating habits among students ldquoWe will soon share personalised meal plans with the students who were found to be underweight or overweight along with an exercise regime Besides this we have started a nutrilite programme for all students where we promote healthy food habits and physical activities Every day 20 minutes before school starts we have yoga sessions or teambased activities for students as part of the lsquoget fitrsquo programmerdquoldquoIt is a serious issue Especially after the pandemic outdoor activities have reduced while screen time increased Kids are now more inclined to video games and watching videos than engaging in physical activities So we are trying to promote physical activities through the programmerdquo she addedParent connectTeachers feel it is a challenge to communicate to parents that their kids lack a healthy BMI Fareen Khan a teacher said initially some parents got anxious and refused to accept the report saying their kids did not consume unhealthy foods ldquoIt was tough to communicate but we managed to explain this to the parents We have now moved on to the remedial part We are sharing easy recipes with parents along with the nutritional chart to make food not just healthy but also tastyrdquo she saidShabana Mallik another teacher said ldquoWe called up parents and explained that even if kids are used to junk food it will aggravate health issues Many parents are busy and cannot follow charts and meal plans and can make changes accordingly But we have requested them to follow a healthy diet and ensure that their kids are engaged in some kind of physical activityrdquoParent SpeakArchana Randive a parent said ldquoA childrsquos health is an essential factor considering their growing age Regular checkup in school helps parents stay updated about their wardsrsquo physical and mental activities as children spend most of their time in school Every school must look into monitoring a childrsquos fitnessrdquoAnother parent Arvind Jain said ldquoOIS conducts various activities in school which help keep my kid healthy Nowadays especially after the pandemic our lifestyle has changed a lot Kids have become less physically active and they spend more time watching TV and mobile phones The school has been guiding parents like me to reduce screen time and to attract the child to physical activities and games Also it is a challenge for us to give healthy yet tasty food to kids but the school has helped us by sharing a food menu with recipes which are healthy as well as tastyrdquolsquoNeed schools to step inrsquoDr Swati Popat Vats an educationist and founderpresident of The Early Childhood Association said ldquoIt is an alarming trend that students are consuming junk foods Many parents are fine with giving their kids unhealthy food Schools need to follow healthy snack menus and become more stringent about what students bring in their tiffinsrdquo