Promoting proper nutrition and healthy lifestyles among adolescents

By Philippine Information Agency (PIA 8)
July 12, 2007

We can not just sit down in our own comfort zones, knowing and realizing that much is wanting in the Filipino adolescents’ nutrition and lifestyles. It is the responsibility of the home, the school, the government and all the stakeholders (including us) to make a collective effort and do something lest we wake up one day to see that the country is being ran by unhealthy leaders.

For one, the adolescents must be provided with a supportive family environment where nutritious meals are available with special attention to nutritious breakfast. The parents must be the role models of good nutrition and where physical activities among family members are encouraged.

There is a need for nutrition-friendly schools where the school canteens provide a variety of options of nutritious but affordable meals and snacks. The schools can help a lot in promoting safe and nutritious foods among vendors in the vicinity of the school. The schools should integrate good nutrition in the secondary school curriculum and conduct nutrition assessment among the young students. Weighing scales and height charts should be available for students to determine their weight and height regularly. The nutritional status of adolescents is determined using the body mass index which is computed by dividing the body weight in kilograms by the square of the height in meters.

The school administrators and teachers, when making the school schedules, must ensure that students have enough time for snacks in the morning and afternoon. They may also conduct for a, discussions, seminars on nutrition and healthy lifestyles to increase awareness and to clarify misconceptions about nutrition. This is also a good opportunity for adolescents to express their ideas and opinions.

The community and local government support for adolescent nutrition and healthy lifestyle is also very important. To start with, the local government must make this issue on the adolescent a priority concern. Perhaps it would be good to provide iron supplements especially among female adolescents. Community assemblies on proper nutrition and healthy lifestyles must be conducted. Sports activities must be promoted.

The local lawmaking bodies could enforce an ordinance banning children from purchasing cigarettes and alcoholic beverages or perhaps one that would regulate the sale of junk foods.

Engaging adolescents in community nutrition programs such as Operation Timbang, nutrition education, food production programs are good ways of making them good-nutrition oriented.

The media and civil society can also help by promoting a healthy body image of adolescents as not being too thin but that of having normal weight. They can also make a big difference in the lives of the adolescents by providing correct information especially about fad diets which adolescents are likely to experiment with.