Experts to take ‘healthy diet’ campaign to schools

Organisers of the seventh Qatar International Food Festival (QIFF) will conduct a healthy food and nutrition awareness programme at 30 schools in the country to educate children about the benefits of a healthy diet.
Over the next two weeks, teams of representatives from Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA), Ministry of Education, Your Health First, and Qatar Culinary Professionals (QCP) will be visiting primary and middle schools in Doha, Al Wakrah and Al Khor.
Nutritionists from Your Health First will help students distinguish between healthy and unhealthy foods. They will also be briefed about their benefits and possible harm to people’s health.
QCP members will prepare healthy and tasty snacks in front of the students, helping them gain a visual understanding of where food comes from and an appreciation of healthy alternatives to common snacks.  
“We wanted to create a bridge between the enormous effort made on National Sport Day to help people kick-start a healthy lifestyle and the nation-wide food festival taking place in March,” QTA’s festivals and events director Mashal Shahbik said. “Culinary experiences are cultural, social, and entertaining,” she noted.
QTA is also in talks with the Ministry of Education to make special access to QIFF available to school children as a way of diversifying their experiences of food.
“We thank QTA for taking the initiative to educate our students about healthy eating, and we wish that this collaboration will continue throughout the festival in a way that contributes to the welfare of all Qatar’s citizens,” Ministry of Education’s physical education specialist Faisal al-Badr said.
‘Sahtak Awalan; Your Health First,’ is an initiative developed in partnership between the Ministry of Public Health and Weill Cornel Medicine in Qatar that uses media, digital, and grassroots campaigns to make information about healthy lifestyles and preventive measures easily accessible to the local community.
“This new initiative is a wonderful opportunity for Your Health First to continue its work with young people, ensuring they remain fit and healthy and are able to meet the challenges of Qatar National Vision 2030,” WCM-Q’s chief communications officer Nesreen al-Rifai said.
“Educating children about the benefits of a healthy diet and providing them with the knowledge to make informed choices perfectly complements the mission and vision of Your Health First,” she added.
School children will also be treated to live demonstrations by Ghanem al-Sulaiti, a young engineer who is also passionate about health and nutrition, as well as chefs from the Armenian restaurant Mamig.  
“Our aim is to bring together a group of professional chefs who are going to teach young students how to eat right and, in doing so, become a responsible member of the community,” Qatar Culinary professionals chairman Baran Yucel said.
“Any food that requires enhancing by the use of chemical substances is dangerous to our children’s health,” he noted. “In order to improve the health of our families, we advise members of the community to stay away from processed food and to go organic.”  
QIFF was first organised by QTA in 2010 to showcase Qatar’s multiple food, beverage and hospitality offerings from varied cultures.
QTA and co-host Qatar Airways have confirmed that this year will see the festival experience extending to a week-long event (March 22 to 28), and the addition of satellite festival experiences at many of the country’s other landmarks and eateries.