Cooking up a good health recipe in school
Print Edition
WHILE cooking mushrooms and leafy greens on a hot stovetop, Wu Kejian explains how to make a nutritious meal with less oil and salt for 50 students attending a nutritious catering class in the school kitchen.
When the mushrooms are tender, he turns off the flame, serves the steaming dish and invites students to taste it.
Wu is a cook at the Experimental School Affiliated to Niulanshan First Secondary School in Beijing’s Shunyi District. He and four other school cooks have been trained in nutrition to teach students how to make two nutritious dishes through the biweekly class.
The class stems from the implementation of the “Nutrition School” project in Shunyi.
With a focus on nutrition education, the project aims to explore new ways that can help students change their eating habits and become healthier.
Zhao Wenhua, a dietician in charge of the “Nutrition School” project, said that nutrition education refers to the education that focuses on the role of food, nutrition-related knowledge and the cultivation of good eating habits in promoting the development and growth of children and adolescents.
Malnutrition, including undernutrition, hidden hunger and obesity, threatens the survival, growth and development of children and young people, according to the State of the World’s Children 2019 report released by the United Nations Children’s Fund.
According to the report, globally, obesity among children and adolescents continues to rise. From 2000 to 2016, the proportion of overweight children and youth (aged between 5-19) rose from one in 10 to almost one in five.
The Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control and the center for disease prevention and control of Shunyi launched the “Nutrition School” pilot project in 2016.
UNICEF supported the preliminary research work of the project, including through financial and technical support, and promoted obesity intervention in all aspects.
Farming in person
“The project aims to promote nutrition education and physical activity to prevent children and teens from becoming overweight and obese,” said Zhao.
As one of the pilot schools of the project, the Experimental School Affiliated to Niulanshan First Secondary School offers the nutritious catering class and runs a “happy farm” for its 3,400 students to experience farming in person.
Fan Hongyu teaches students how to recognize vegetable seeds, explains growth characteristics of plants, and guides them to grow vegetables, including chives and cucumbers.
When the vegetables are ripe, she encourages students to bring some back home and cook for their parents.
Vice principal Zhao Jinlong said the school plans to invite vegetable farmers to guide students and teachers through the cultivation process. He expects the students will learn some planting knowledge and better appreciate the pains and gains of different occupations.
To help students become healthier, the school has intervened in both eating and physical exercise at the same time by organizing rope jumping and long-distance running.
The prevention and control of chronic diseases should start with children and should be jointly run by the health and education authorities, according to Li Yindong, head of the center for disease prevention and control of the district.
Shao Chunyan, a health teacher, said the school plans to assign sports homework during the winter vacation in January. Students will be required to complete a number of daily exercises such as sit-ups and rope skipping. “So we can ensure that students exercise regularly and maintain a healthy lifestyle at home,” she said.
The changes are obvious. Fan can hardly recognize some of her ninth graders when looking at their old pictures given the dramatic changes in their appearance over the past three years.
One of the boys told her that he was 1.73 meters tall and weighed 90 kilograms in the seventh grade and now he is 1.78 meters tall and weighs 70kg.
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