Avoid Children's Day Snack Binge: Thai Health Dept

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HEALTH WARNING

Avoid children's day snack binge: dept

The Nation

Schools, families reminded of the dangers of obesity and tooth decay

Schools and families were urged yesterday to avoid filling activities for National Children's Day with sweets and soda pop.

"The wrong choices of food will lead to tooth decay and obesity," said Dr Somyos Deerassamee, director-general of the Health Department.

To mark Children's Day, which falls on Saturday this year, parents, schools and many organisations are planning to host parties and events with a variety of activities to educate and entertain the new generation.

Torpong Chaiyasarn, deputy public health minister, said 56 per cent of 12-year-olds were suffering from cavities.

Sa-nga Damapong, head of the Thai Health Promotion Foundation's Proper Nutrition for Thai Children project, said improper diets had impaired the physical and brain development of many children.

"Poor nutrition can affect children's intelligence quotient (IQ)," he said.

Many schools supply free lunches to their students but the quality is deplorable.

"The budget is only Bt13 per meal. At some schools under local administrative bodies, the lunch budget is just Bt8 to Bt9 per head," Sa-nga said.

The government should raise the lunch subsidy to Bt15-Bt18 per student to improve their health.

"I will start seriously pushing for the increase in March," he said.

An investment in children will pay the country back tenfold. If children have high IQ, the country will have better quality human resources for development, he added.

Assoc Prof Ladda Mo-suwan, a researcher with the Health System Research Institute, said a survey conducted from 2008-09 found children still had nutritional problems.

"About 4.4 per cent of children aged 1-14 are shorter than average," she said.

For children under two years of age, 2.4 per cent had severe short stature and risked developing intellectual disabilities.

"Of children under two, 4.1 per cent are underweight and at risk of malnutrition," she said.

There was an increase in the number of children with obesity and excess nutrition.

All authorities must join hands in solving children's nutrition problems, she added.

-- The Nation 2012-01-12

[Somtamnication]

Krap pom!

And as I finished the food pyramid lesson with my students, the bell rang and they did not eat lunch. They ran to the school shop to buy ice icream!

My govt school is on this health kick at the moment, but only in the classroom.

[jalansanitwong]

In Thailand its childrens day everyday of the year. Why have a special day for it just to line someones pockets. I am not giving my school any money tomorrow. I dont trust them.

[Fookhaht]

Krap pom!

And as I finished the food pyramid lesson with my students, the bell rang and they did not eat lunch. They ran to the school shop to buy ice icream!

My govt school is on this health kick at the moment, but only in the classroom.

Greed for money trumps all other priorities in this educational system.

Edited January 12, 2012 by Fookhaht

[Kilgore Trout]

Does Thailand even have an official body to regulate the nutritional value of school lunches?

This can be a problem even in the US which does have such a body; as the law currently stands now, french fries are considered a vegetable and so is pizza sauce.

People are trying to change it but there is a lot of opposition from those lobbying for big business (industrial food processing corporations).

[anterian]

Does Thailand even have an official body to regulate the nutritional value of school lunches?

This can be a problem even in the US which does have such a body; as the law currently stands now, french fries are considered a vegetable and so is pizza sauce.

People are trying to change it but there is a lot of opposition from those lobbying for big business (industrial food processing corporations).

"french fries are considered a vegetable", potatoes are indeed a vegetable and contains minerals and vitamins, but the American "shoestring" French fry has had all this cooked out of it. The English chip on the other hand is large enough to still retain its vitamin content. The Americans should eat "steak fries" what we call wedgies, and leave the skin on it is rich in vitamin C.

[Kilgore Trout]

Does Thailand even have an official body to regulate the nutritional value of school lunches?

This can be a problem even in the US which does have such a body; as the law currently stands now, french fries are considered a vegetable and so is pizza sauce.

People are trying to change it but there is a lot of opposition from those lobbying for big business (industrial food processing corporations).

"french fries are considered a vegetable", potatoes are indeed a vegetable and contains minerals and vitamins, but the American "shoestring" French fry has had all this cooked out of it. The English chip on the other hand is large enough to still retain its vitamin content. The Americans should eat "steak fries" what we call wedgies, and leave the skin on it is rich in vitamin C.

I think potatoes (which yes by definition are a vegetable) are a good carbohydrate but kids also need green vegetables such as beans, broccoli, spinach etc.

I think french fries or chips are no substitute for more healthy vegetables.

[anterian]

Does Thailand even have an official body to regulate the nutritional value of school lunches?

This can be a problem even in the US which does have such a body; as the law currently stands now, french fries are considered a vegetable and so is pizza sauce.

People are trying to change it but there is a lot of opposition from those lobbying for big business (industrial food processing corporations).

"french fries are considered a vegetable", potatoes are indeed a vegetable and contains minerals and vitamins, but the American "shoestring" French fry has had all this cooked out of it. The English chip on the other hand is large enough to still retain its vitamin content. The Americans should eat "steak fries" what we call wedgies, and leave the skin on it is rich in vitamin C.

I think potatoes (which yes by definition are a vegetable) are a good carbohydrate but kids also need green vegetables such as beans, broccoli, spinach etc.

I think french fries or chips are no substitute for more healthy vegetables.

I quite agree, they need a mix of many vegetables, lycopene from tomatoes, carotene from carrots, vitamins and fibre from green vegetables, etc , etc, I was merely pointing out that potatoes cooked properly (i.e not French fries) are as nutritious as many other vegetables, they are actually quite high in vitamin C.

http://nutrition.about.com/od/askyournutritionist/f/potatoes.htm

[Somtamnication]

Not splitting hairs, but the food pyramid lesson that I was forced to give noted that rice is a vegetable. The whole lesson would have made you all cry.

[Kilgore Trout]

Not splitting hairs, but the food pyramid lesson that I was forced to give noted that rice is a vegetable. The whole lesson would have made you all cry.

Strange; is that some sort of Thai pyramid? The ones I have seen list it as a grain or a carbohydrate.

The fda has stopped using the pyramid and now uses the "healthy plate."