Health and nutrition issues of school age children With the concerted efforts of parents in following immunisation schedules and healthy nutrition pattern the child by this time is strong enough to fight occasional colds and cough. You may know that obesity is a growing health risk among children now. This is largely due to a diet rich in fatty foods high in salt, low in fiber and beverages with added sugar. Non-active lifestyle further complements the situation.
The problem is more among children from higher socio- economic sections of our society. Type II diabetes and hypertension, earlier rare among children, are becoming more common among youngsters nowadays. This is attributed to the rise in childhood obesity. Under nutrition still remains a serious health hazard among lower socio-economic groups.
Children from poor families go to school on an empty stomach. The result is that these malnourished children are not likely to perform well in school. Instead they are at a greater risk of morbidity and mortality. The mid-day meal scheme (MDMS) implemented by our government provides free lunch to school children from Classes I–VIII.
The scheme has shown very good results. Teachers report that classroom performance and attention spans of children have improved significantly. Not only has this school enrolment increased but drop-out rate has declined too. MDMS has been shown to reduce the gender gap in education by boosting female attendance.
In our country we face the dual problem of undernutrition as well as over-nutrition. So if we continue to spread the benefits of healthy nutrition it will have an impact in the long run. Besides “School Health” programmes providing free health checks and treatment will increase overall well-being of children. The overall development of children requires concerned care and quality education.
This is what will be discussed in the next chapter. Key terms and their meaning Complementary feeding: Inclusion of other foods to the infant’s diet in addition to breast milk Malnutrition: Refers to both undernutrition and overnutrition. In undernutrition the body suffers due to lack of nutrients and in overnutrition the body suffers due to excess of nutrients. Obesity: Deposit of excess fat in the body leading to body weight rising above normal levels.
This is caused by intake of more calories than can be spent on body metabolism and physical activity. Hypertension: High blood pressure Diabetes: Deficiency of insulin in the body leading to rise in blood glucose and presence of glucose in the urine.