Healthy eating put into focus in children’s summer programme

A series of healthy eating informative classes were launched at the Summer Sports and Leisure Programme.

The programme is being delivered by the Government’s Public Health Department and forms part of the recently launched initiative CHAMP (The Children, Healthy and Active Multi-agency Programme).
Dietitians from the GHA aim to reinforce the importance of healthy eating and how the children can make good choices.

Around a large mat with a picture of a plate broken down into different colours, the children discuss the pros and cons of the various types of foods they eat, learning to differentiate between sources of carbohydrates, protein and calcium.

The health promotion team suggested they change some of the usual fizzy or sugary drinks to water. The main message of the drinks session was to avoid drinks with added sugar or full fat milk, opting for sugar free or skimmed milk.

The children were taught they should aim to keep any snack they consume to around 100kcal.

Another group talked about the importance of fluids in a diet, especially water and advised the children how many glasses – seven to eight – of water they should be drinking every day.

The whole three sessions combined aim to equip children with good decision making skills when it comes to the food and drink they put in their body. It is hoped that by understanding more about the food they eat and its benefits they will be more empowered to make healthy choices.