Dubai: A total of 145 schoolchildren across 421 government primary schools were diagnosed with Type I and II diabetes in a survey conducted by the Ministry of Health and Prevention, an official said on Sunday.
The survey was done for the 2015-2016 academic year, said Dr Najla Sajwani, head of the school health department at the ministry. She was speaking to Gulf News on the sidelines of the launch of a pilot project titled ‘Kids and Diabetes’ launched on Sunday by the ministry across 18 government primary schools to mark World Diabetes Day.
The two-year project has been launched throughout the country in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Sanof, a multinational pharmaceutical company.
“We want the school teachers, the students and their families to be sensitive to the importance of nutrition and physical activity and also know how to deal with preventing diabetes and managing the condition. Once this project is successful we will extend it to all schools across the UAE,” add Dr Sajwani.
Dr Hussain Abdul Rahman Al Rand, assistant undersecretary of primary health centres and clinics at the ministry, said: “Childhood obesity has reached 14.5 per cent among school students and it has a direct correlation to diabetes, in addition to other lifestyle diseases. This project will help us work to reach our National Health Agenda goals of reducing obesity and diabetes. We will not only train the teachers but also the families and the students affected by diabetes on recognising the importance of diet and physical activity and also picking out pre-diabetic students with preventive screening.”
Dr Amnah Al Shamsi, from the ministry, said in her address to the students that it was important to recognise the widespread scourge of the disease and control the genetic and environmental factors that play a role in aggravating this condition.
“We want the teachers and families to be educated about proper nutrition and guide the students accordingly. We encourage students to have a physically active lifestyle.”
Jean Paul Scheuer, country head of Sanofi, said this project marked the beginning of implementing the MoU signed with the ministry for ongoing collaboration on many projects for preventive and active screening of diabetes, especially among schoolchildren.
“We want to train the trainers and be part of this project in a sustained manner,” he told Gulf News.
