Pupils to keep food diaries in child obesity initiative

FOOD SURVEY: Children will record everything they eat as part of a campaign to tackle child obesity.

Pupils in Abu Dhabi are being asked to keep food diaries in the first major survey into the problem of obesity in children.

More than 300 boys and girls will take part in the poll, the results of which will be scrutinised by researchers at Zayed University in an effort to build an accurate picture of what children in the emirates are eating.

The study, which will be carried out this spring in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, will be extended across the emirate and then nationwide in the autumn.

The results could then form the basis of a national anti-obesity strategy, UAE daily The National reported on Saturday.

“We have a health crisis here with diabetes and obesity,” Dr Serah Theuri, assistant professor at Zayed University and leader of the study, told the paper.

The survey will involve pupils in Grades 8 and 9, with ages ranging from 13 to 15.

The data will be processed by nutritional analysis software to calculate the total calories eaten, along with the vitamins and minerals consumed.

“Obesity, combined with lack of exercise, has far-reaching health repercussions and is linked to diabetes and heart problems in adulthood," she added.

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