UAE: Free meals for all students in public schools pushed at FNC
The education department in Abu Dhabi is implementing a healthy-eating policy by banning junk food in schools which supports the mission to establish a safe and nutritious food environment for students.
According to a Federal National Council (FNC) member speaking on Wednesday the UAE requires a national initiative to provide free healthy meals in public schools to combat obesity and promote food equality among students.
The Ministry of Climate Change and Environment previously announced the 'National School Meals Initiative' which planned to provide free meals to public school students throughout the country by 2025. FNC member Sumayya Al Suwaidi reported that the pilot phase scheduled for the 2023–2024 academic year did not happen.
During the academic year 2024–2025 what steps has the Ministry taken to advance the initiative as asked by Al Suwaidi.
Parents and the community showed great support for this initiative upon its announcement because it will establish healthy eating habits for future generations.
Al Suwaidi explained that the UAE's joining of the School Meals Coalition with 70 member states led to the announcement of the National School Meals Initiative which seeks to deliver healthy meals to all students by 2030. The international coalition’s initiative reached 388 million students in 2020 and expanded to benefit over 418 million students by 2022.
According to the ministry's initial announcement the initiative aims to source 70 percent of its food supplies and 30 percent of its workforce from local providers which will significantly benefit the national economy.
This initiative addresses the growing prevalence of obesity, diabetes, heart diseases along with the psychological problems faced by young people. The initiative establishes social equality between students by providing them equal access to nutritious food.
The national survey completed during 2017-2018 found that 17.35 percent of children and adolescents had obesity according to routine school health screenings as reported by Al Suwaidi. Statistics from the survey revealed that 27.8 per cent of adults suffered from obesity while 60 per cent of the UAE population fell into the overweight or obese categories.
Dr Amna Al Dahak who serves as the Minister of Climate Change and Environment indicated through written correspondence with Al Suwaidi that their Ministry is in the process of revising the National Food Security Strategy. The update seeks to advance relevant projects while revising roles and responsibilities to achieve national goals and enhance execution impact.
The minister emphasized that work will focus on improving the nutritional content of essential crops within the food basket along with projects to boost local production for domestic food needs while maintaining food safety standards.
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