As part of a new initiative launched by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in association with the Directorate of Education, children will be playing an active role in consuming safe and nutritious food.
The initiative titled Safe and Nutritious Food at Schools is being promoted and supported by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) as part of completing ten years with its ten initiatives. The school initiative will be the first of its kind to be implemented in the country.
Schools will now have Sehat Clubs which will include students themselves conductind programmes and activities. They will also take it upon themselves to inspect canteens and mid-day meals that are supplied to them.
Through the initiative, a total of around 200 teachers, one hundred from North and one hundred from South Goa were trained in a one-day workshop in child nutrition and how to undertake the initiative.
The trained teachers were also taught about child psychology and how to ensure they make healthy choices with their food.
The programme is devised on a three pronged approach by creating health and wellness coordinators and teams in each school, delivering and reinforcing the message of safe and nutritious food through curricular and co-curricular activities and ensuring an enabling legislative and regulatory framework to promote safe and wholesome food in schools.
(image courtesy- Hindustan Times)