Nutritionists to be attached to schools

NST: Malaysia is considering putting nutritionists in schools to monitor what students eat.
This is the Education and Health Ministries’ plan to cultivate good eating habits among young Malaysians.
Education Ministry schools division director Salleh Mohd Hussein said the ministry had discussed with the Health Ministry on providing a nutritionist for schools to advise pupils and get feedback on their health and diets.
"It was the idea of the schools division and the Health Ministry is preparing the proposal. We are thinking about focusing perhaps on boarding schools first, and then go batch by batch. We may target schools with an enrolment of 2,000 students or more," he said.
He said it would not be possible to provide a nutritionist in schools where enrolment was low, such as in states like Sabah or Sarawak. For these schools, teachers may be roped in to help out, he added.
He said despite recent developments in Britain, where British authorities recently imposed a ban on vending machines selling fizzy drinks, chocolates and potato chips in all schools, Malaysia would not be following the move.
The Education Ministry had already come out with an updated book on guidelines for school canteen operators last year he said, which outlines specifically what food is suitable, which is not encouraged or prohibited in school canteens.
Under the guidelines, food which is acceptable includes rice, nasi lemak, boiled eggs and porridge, popia, curry puffs and sandwiches, while anything containing excess oil, fat, sugar and preservatives is not encouraged, such as instant noodles, drinks with artificial colouring and carbonated soft drinks.
Prohibited food items include those sold with toys or made to look like toys, as well as sweets, jeruk and snacks that contain artificial additives and colouring.
Currently it is the Health Ministry that carries out inspection in canteens, mostly on sanitary and hygiene checks, Salleh said, and it was found that most schools did not flout guidelines.
The British move recently follows a similar exercise in France a few weeks earlier, with vending machines being replaced by water fountains in some schools.
The Consumers Association of Penang has been calling for the ban on vending machines dispensing junk food and drinks in schools for years.
It is estimated that at least one in five Malaysians, or 20 per cent of the population, is overweight.
A Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia study conducted among 1,026 schoolchildren aged 7 to 10 in 1998 showed that 12.5 per cent of boys and five per cent of girls were obese.
"We are aware of the complaints that have been made by parents and consumer groups who have voiced their opinions. We have found that problems of obesity among children actually start with habits at home and not the hours spent in the school canteen," Salleh said.