HEALTH CONCERNS AND UNHEALTHY LIFE STYLE: NUTRITION SPECIALISTS WARN OF INCREASED NUMBER OF OVERWEIGHT CHILDREN IN ARMENIA
Health | 07.12.12 | 15:28
NAZIK ARMENAKYAN
ArmeniaNow
By Julia Hakobyan
ArmeniaNow Deputy Editor
Parents of school children in Armenia face concerns of nutrition, as
school canteens typically fail to offer healthy options, if any at all.
The system of nutrition in the Soviet schools which provided free
milk and cookies for the first graders, soups and main courses for
the rest of students and teachers, is not practiced since the collapse
of the Soviet Union.
Enlarge Photo Madlene Minassian
Despite the fact that the Soviet school canteens have been the subject
of jokes for several generations because of the specific odor and a
standard set of dishes, it however could offer a complete lunch for
the students and teachers, who spent from 5-8 hours in the schools.
Vegetable and milk soups, mashed potatoes, rice, buckwheat, milk,
salads, peach and apple compote, tea, were sold, but still very
affordable. Many graduates of Soviet schools in Armenia remember with
nostalgia the slice of brown bread with eggplant caviar for 10 kopeks.
The safety and quality of food was controlled by the health and
epidemic stations commissions who regularly visited schools.
After the collapse of the USSR, canteens were transformed into
school cafes, which now offer students chips, burgers, hot dogs,
buns, popcorns, soft drinks, crackers and candy bars. Besides the
fact that prices in schools’ cafes are higher than in markets, the
offered food, which often contain substantial amounts of sweeteners
and preservatives and has little nutritional value, causes serious
concerns for many parents.
The concerns are shared by health officials. Despite the fact that the
fast food and the abundance of sugar-sweetened soft drinks appeared
in Armenia relatively recently, it already affected the general public
health picture in Armenia. According to Armenia Demographic and Health
survey the percentage of overweight children has increased from 11
percent in 2005 to the current 15 percent. Besides the study shows that
30 percent of women and 40 percent of men in Armenia are overweight.
Endocrinologist Bamine Baghramyan, a member of “No to Obesity” Armenian
association notes that in Yerevan children’s weight problems start
in most cases with their school life. In kindergarten, children are
offered a balanced menu, in addition, kids eat mostly homemade food,
while school students buy snacks. In addition, pre-school children
spend a lot of time outdoors until the school introduces a sedentary
life to them, when they sit for hours in the school at the desk,
then at home making lessons, or playing computer games.
“Many parents, who bring their children to me for examination, believe
their children’s obesity is hormonal, which is not true. Hormonal
disorders make maximum five percent of children suffering obesity,
while the remaining 95 percent of obesity cases are related to
unhealthy nutrition and lack of physical activity, “says Baghramyan,
deputy director at the Yerevan Medical Center.
“The vast majority of children in Armenia consume a lot of
carbohydrates, often indulged by adults, when they allow the next
portion of sweets or sugary drinks. Therein lies the problem – the
adults can consciously limit themselves from sweets, which can never
done by a child.”
Baghramyan said, if comparing Armenians’ meal 50 years ago and now
those are two different types of nutrition. She notes that at first
glance it seems that there is a small percentage of overweight children
in Yerevan, but it is not so, and their number is increasing with each
year. She says if Armenian parents do not now pass on healthy eating,
Armenia soon will face the epidemic of obesity, as is now found in
the United States and many other countries.
The growing concerns for healthy life style has encouraged another
expert in nutrition, Madlene Minassian, a repatriate from the United
States, and a mom of two boys to think about launching a nutrition
curriculum in the Armenians schools.
Minassian, a graduator of UCLA (University of California Los Angeles)
and Master in Public Health who moved to Armenia 12 years ago says
many people in Armenia know the basic difference between healthy
and junk food but, most of the time, they just don’t have enough
information to apply their knowledge into a lifestyle.
“What I want is to make my own contribution to make schools healthier,”
says Minassian. To realize their idea on introducing nutrition
curriculum in Yerevan’s schools, Minassian decided at first to
conduct trainings for the teachers familiarizing them with the rules
of healthy living.
“When I came to the school I saw there were a lot of opportunities
to try this out, the school administration was very supportive and
allowed to start the lessons,” says Minassian, whose two boys attend
school N 130.
So far Minassian has conducted three training courses for teachers
in that school, telling teachers about the four stones of a healthy
life style: nutrition, physical activity, restful sleep and stress
management.
“We all know about the role of the Armenian women in the family. They
are not only responsible for their own health but also for the health
of the entire family. In order for the students to have access to a
healthy life style, tools and tips would have to come from the teacher,
(the overwhelming majority of teachers in schools are female), who
are mothers, sisters, wives, grandmothers and who shape the life
style for the family,” says Minassian.
In one of her lessons Minassian recommended teachers to make conscious
efforts in favor of natural food and avoid high calorie, low-nutrient
junk food and serve children baked potato instead of French fries,
buckwheat or oatmeal porridge instead of preserved yogurts, nuts
and fruits, (fresh or dry) instead of chips and snacks. She says she
realizes Armenian women have a big burden to carry and, especially
working women, sometimes do not have much time to make a healthy meal.
Still, Minassian believes Armenian women need to revise their routine
for the sake of the health of family members.
Unhealthy living, in addition to polluted air, bad ecology and modified
products is a matter of big concern in Armenia, where the top killers
are diseases, related to unhealthy consumption. That’s why, says
Minassian, it is really important to make right choices in favor of
healthy food and lifestyle.
Armenia offers a great variety of natural food especially legumes and
beans, vegetables and fruits that are usually moderately priced. A
portion of buckwheat for a child, for example cost much less than a
chocolate bar while the portion of potatoes made at home will cost at
least five times less than the portion of French fries (1 kilogram of
potatoes in Armenia costs about 50 cents, while a portion of French
fries is about one dollar).
Minassian also calls teachers to pay more attention to the physical
activity of their children. She said she found that the culture in
Armenia is very extreme: you either are a sportsman or you are not.
Though, she notes, in the recent couple of years there is observed a
growing tendency in Armenia, when a hobby, like playing football or
basketball becomes a culture.
The situation in elementary schools in Armenian regions is more
favorable for the students, since in 2011, there was launched the
program “School Meals”, initiated by the UN World Food Programme (WFP)
and funded by Russia, which has allocated $8 million to the program,
designed for three years.
Under the program, about 50,000 students in grades 1-4 enrolled in 700
schools in six regions of Armenia (the most affected by the economic
crisis) get hot meals consisting of vegetable soup, porridge and bread.
Now, a project is being drafted to engage the schools which do not
have kitchens and canteens.
In many schools in the capital, canteens have been modified into
classrooms or in other cases are run on money supplied by parents.
http://armenianow.com/society/health/41791/armenian_children_obesity_schools_canteens_healty_life_style