New initiative by UAE health officials to tackle obesity among school students
Standard protocols being developed to collect, analyse data on early obesity indicators
Dubai: The Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP) has organised a series of training workshops to develop the skills of school health staff and enhance their cognitive abilities to ensure the accuracy and reliability of students’ health data, thereby supporting the National Programme to Combat Obesity among Children and Adolescents.
Held at the Ministry’s headquarters in Dubai, the Teacher Training Institute in Ajman, and Sharjah, the workshops focused on training school nurses and physical education support staff on recording anthropometric measurements for students aged 5 to 17 years. Anthropometric measurements are used to assess the size, proportions and composition of the human body.
The workshops are aimed to develop standardised protocols for collecting and analysing data related to early obesity indicators, thereby improving preventive health policies, and enabling more informed decision-making based on precise scientific evidence.
The four-day training workshops featured several sub-sessions, as part of the Ministry’s strategy to manage preventive and community health programmes, improve quality of life nationwide, and ensure accurate data collection for the National Programme to Combat Obesity among Children and Adolescents. They also aimed to promote public health among community members, especially school students.
Reliable, accurate data
The sessions provided targeted training to enhance the technical skills of school nurses in accurately measuring students’ weight and height using approved anthropometric standards. This is to ensure the collection of reliable and precise data, necessary for assessing obesity prevalence among students, identifying overweight cases, and standardising the recording and consistency of their health data.
The workshops, which featured a mix of interactive activities and theoretical lectures, were designed to establish clear concepts and procedures to ensure the accuracy of data entry.
They focused on training participants to fill out the student data record forms correctly and completely, a necessary step for maintaining high-quality data in the National Programme to Combat Obesity in Children and Adolescents.
Additionally, the workshops prepared participants to become trainers themselves, equipping them to teach school nursing staff these essential skills and procedures, thereby expanding the impact and reach of these workshops.
MoHAP efforts
Dr Hussain Abdul Rahman Al Rand, Assistant Undersecretary for the Public Health Sector, emphasised that this training workshop is part of the Ministry’s ongoing efforts to promote community health and achieve the objectives of the National Programme to Combat Obesity in Children and Adolescents. It is one of several initiatives aimed at equipping school health staff with the latest knowledge and skills necessary to provide exceptional health care for children.
“MoHAP is committed to developing an initiative-taking approach for addressing health challenges and reinforcing the country’s position as a leading model in preventive health care both regionally and globally,” Al Rand said.
Early detection of obesity
Nouf Khamis Al Ali, Director of the Health Promotion Department, stated that this training workshop is part of a larger effort to step up the Ministry’s work in monitoring and detecting childhood obesity. “Early intervention is key to keeping kids healthy, and the Ministry is committed to organising such workshops and training programmes to improve the quality of school health data. Better data means better health care for students, which in turn positively impacts their overall health and academic performance.”