Dubai: The Dubai Health Authority and the Dubai Education Zone have launched workshops to train teachers in public schools about healthy nutrition as part of the ‘Ajyal Salima’ programme.
Ajyal Salima, which means healthy children in Arabic, is a two-year programme launched in 2012 to introduce health classes in 29 governmental schools in Dubai through workshops and training teachers.
The programme, which is in cooperation with the Princess Haya Initiative for the Development of Health, Physical Education and School Sports and Nestle Middle East, will be implemented in two different phases.
The first phase involves reaching out to 10 schools through several awareness initiatives for children in grade 4 and 5, using roadshows and educational programmes.
The next step will involve workshops known as ‘train the trainers’ for academicians in these schools that will be conducted in cooperation with experts from American University of Beirut. Once the academicians are trained, they will integrate the programme within their classrooms and educate children about healthy eating and nutrition.
“In line with the directives of Essa Al Maidour, director-general of the DHA and under the Dubai Health Strategy 2011-2013, improving health of the population of Dubai through behavioural change is an important goal. Focusing on important groups such as children and academicians is essential because children spend several hours of their day in school and thus schools are a place where they can inculcate healthy habits that they will carry on into adulthood,” said Laila Al Jasmi, CEO of Health Policy and Strategy at the DHA.
