DOHA: With 16 to 22 percent of Independent school children in Qatar found to be either obese or overweight the Supreme Council of Health (SCH) has partnered with other leading health entities in the country to launch a joint fight against the problem.

The unified national healthy school programme has been launched to promote healthy living habits among children with a special focus on reducing the high prevalence of obesity.

With the partnership of SCH Supreme Education Council Primary Healthcare Corporation Qatar Olympic Committee Aspetar and Weill Cornell Medical College the programme aims to unify the various health programmes in schools being carried out by different organisations under one umbrella in a more focused manner.

The SCH yesterday organised a meeting of principals of about 200 Independent schools to introduce them details of the joint initiative in the presence of officials from the partnering organisations.

“This programme is an extension of various health initiatives implemented in schools in the past years under the National Health Strategy 2011-2016” Dr Sheikha Al Anoud Al Thani Director of Health Promotion and Non-communicable Diseases section at SCH told the media on the sidelines of the meeting.

She said the new initiative was driven by the results of a survey conducted last year among Independent school children aged six to 19 years. The survey found that 16 to 22 percent of the children are either obese or overweight. The prevalence is about 16 percent among primary school children but it shows an upward trend as children grows to preparatory and secondary levels.

There is no significant difference among boys and girls who are obese or overweight. On the contrary being underweight is a condition that is more prevalent among girls compared to boys especially in secondary schools.

“The results of this survey calls for more coordinated efforts to fight obesity and promote healthy living habits among children. The unified initiative seeks to make sure that all health programmes reach all the schools” said Sheikha Al Anoud.

She said the pilot phase of the programme will cover all Independent schools and then it will be expanded to private schools in the next phase.

The first project under the initiative is to launch a website benefiting all the schools. A joint team will soon start work on assessing the situation in each school through a survey covering parents school officials staff and students.

The SCH had earlier launched a programme to monitor the growth of Independent school children and differences in health conditions like obesity had been found among children in different geographical areas said Sheikha Al Anoud.

Asked if there would be stricter monitoring on food distributed in school canteens she said such decisions will be taken after identifying the causes of obesity.

Unhealthy food like soft drinks have been banned in school canteens.

“First we have to study whether the problem is related to food or less physical activity. This study will be part of the initiative” she said.

Parents and the community will be involved through programmes to ensure the success of the initiative. There is also a plan to introduce healthy living habits in the school curriculum she added.

The Peninsula