Canteens opt for healthier snacks

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It may surprise you but the oily patties and aerated drinks are not the choice of today’s health-conscious kids. According to a recent survey by the Heal Foundation on eating habits of children in school canteens, in association with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, most schoolchildren would prefer fruit juices and milk over soft drinks. And if they had an option, more than 75 per cent of them would happily look beyond the greasy samosas and bread pakoras for something healthy.

Sharing few healthy options, Katyayani Singh, a Class 5 student of DPS School, Rohini quips, “Junior school students are not allowed to carry junk food for their lunch and only once a week we’re allowed to eat something from school canteen, but I find the canteen food quite unhealthy. I love fruits and so hope our canteen introduces options like fruit salads and vegetable pasta salads as healthy snacks.”
And as kids are learning the ills of junk food, parents are learning healthier recipes. Harshit Sharma, a Class 7 student of Air Force Bal Bharti, Lodhi Colony shares, “To make sure that I eat right, my mother has started preparing light idli sambhar and sprout salad for me. She also prepares pizza and Maggi with vegetables once in a while for tiffin. Now, I mostly avoid junk food, so I really wish we have some healthy items like frozen yoghurt, milkshakes and bhelpuri instead of fried chips in our canteen.”
Schools agree that eating habits of children need urgent attention as cases of obesity and cardio-vascular diseases at an early age are on the rise. However, most of them insist that they have already switched to healthy food options in their canteens. Nina Sehgal, principal, DPS Noida, avers, “We will have more healthy options on the menu from the new session; like sandwiches with spinach filling and chapati wraps. Also, we’re planning to revamp the traditional items into tasty healthy snacks like boiled potato chaat, chana kulche instead of oily chhole bhature.”
Agrees Usha Ram, principal, Laxman Public School, “This survey is an eye-opener, and we already have a milk booth with flavoured drinks to replace aerated drinks. We have our student-teacher committee to monitor the quality and hygiene of the food in the canteen. We have started healthy practices like daily fruit breaks where children eat fruits brought from home in the class.”