Body mass index screening of students finds more than half to be unhealthy in Mumbai, Thane

Students take part in physical activity as part of the get fit programme, at Orchids the International School, Thane

More than 50 per cent of the students aged between five and 15 at Orchids the International School (OIS) lack a healthy body mass index (BMI), revealed a screening conducted by the school management across all its branches in Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai. A total of 4,310 students from 16 branches were covered under the survey.

As per the survey, 49.79 per cent of the students were healthy while 50.21 per cent of students lacked a healthy BMI. Of the total students, 11 per cent were found to be underweight, while 39.21 were overweight. Alarmed by the results, the management is working on personalised meal plans and exercise regimes for students who were found to be overweight or underweight.

Diet, lack of physical activity

Pooja Srivastava, nutritionist at OIS, said, "I have been working at OIS for a year now and observed that many kids get junk food for lunch very often. The percentage of kids lacking healthy BMI is a serious issue. Parents won't see any difficulty now, but this can lead to bigger health issues at a later stage." "Overall I have observed that these kids are overfed. However, as junk food covers most of their food, they are undernourished. I feel nutrition education should be part of the curriculum in every school," she added.

A BMI report issued by the school

OIS Koparkhairane Principal Sangita Gajbhare told mid-day that the management held the screening after observing unhealthy eating habits among students. "We will soon share personalised meal plans with the students who were found to be underweight or overweight along with an exercise regime. Besides this, we have started a nutri-lite programme for all students where we promote healthy food habits and physical activities. Every day 20 minutes before school starts, we have yoga sessions or team-based activities for students as part of the ‘get fit' programme."

"It is a serious issue. Especially after the pandemic, outdoor activities have reduced while screen time increased. Kids are now more inclined to video games and watching videos than engaging in physical activities. So, we are trying to promote physical activities through the programme," she added.

Parent connect

Teachers feel it is a challenge to communicate to parents that their kids lack a healthy BMI. Fareen Khan, a teacher, said initially some parents got anxious and refused to accept the report, saying their kids did not consume unhealthy foods. "It was tough to communicate, but we managed to explain this to the parents. We have now moved on to the remedial part. We are sharing easy recipes with parents along with the nutritional chart to make food not just healthy but also tasty," she said.

Shabana Mallik, another teacher, said, "We called up parents and explained that even if kids are used to junk food, it will aggravate health issues. Many parents are busy and cannot follow charts and meal plans, and can make changes accordingly. But we have requested them to follow a healthy diet and ensure that their kids are engaged in some kind of physical activity."

Parent Speak

Archana Randive, a parent, said, "A child's health is an essential factor, considering their growing age. Regular check-up in school helps parents stay updated about their wards' physical and mental activities as children spend most of their time in school. Every school must look into monitoring a child's fitness."

Another parent, Arvind Jain, said, "OIS conducts various activities in school which help keep my kid healthy. Nowadays, especially after the pandemic, our lifestyle has changed a lot. Kids have become less physically active and they spend more time watching TV and mobile phones. The school has been guiding parents like me to reduce screen time and to attract the child to physical activities and games. Also, it is a challenge for us to give healthy yet tasty food to kids, but the school has helped us by sharing a food menu with recipes which are healthy as well as tasty."

‘Need schools to step in'

Dr Swati Popat Vats, an educationist and founder-president of The Early Childhood Association, said, "It is an alarming trend that students are consuming junk foods. Many parents are fine with giving their kids unhealthy food. Schools need to follow healthy snack menus and become more stringent about what students bring in their tiffins."