Children across the country will return to school with a passion for health, thanks to the partnership between the Ministry for Education and Higher Education and Sahtak Awalan – Your Health First, an initiative of Weill Cornell Medicine – Qatar.
As part of the Ministry of Education’s Back to School programme, Your Health First is distributing thousands of school bags, lunchboxes, water bottles, pencil cases and food information cards to young students at the Mall of Qatar over the Eid Al Adha period. The gifts are branded with the Sahtak Awalan – Your Health First campaign. The campaign aims to change unhealthy habits into healthy behaviours and educate the young generation about the importance of diet and exercise. The food cards explain the nutritional benefits of a wide variety of different foods, helping parents and young people to plan healthy meals and understand the benefits of the food they eat.
WCM-Q Chief Communications OfficerNesreen Al-Rifai said that the partnership between the ministry’s Back to School campaign and Sahtak Awalan is important for children and young people.
If we can educate our children about health at a young age, they will take those lessons with them into later life. That way, we can help create a healthier generation in the future able to meet the goals of Qatar National Vision 2030.
I would like to thank everyone for their support, particularly the Ministry of Education but also our strategic partners: Qatar Foundation, the Ministry of Public Health, Occidental Petroleum Qatar and ExxonMobil, who offer such valuable help.
Obesity and related disorders are diseases from which we must do all we can to protect our children, but by working together we are making a real difference to the health of our most precious asset – our young people.’
Along with nutrition cards, the water bottles will help ensure that the students returning to school stay well-hydrated throughout the day, and a magnetic food guide for the refrigerator will serve as a reminder at home about the importance of diet in staying fit and healthy.
WCM-Q and its Sahtak Awalan – Your Health First campaign, has already done much to educate children about health, having installed greenhouses at public schools so that pupils can learn to grow and then eat their own fresh, organic fruit and vegetables. Once again, the project could not have been realised without collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, and the backing of Sahtak Awalan’s strategic partners.
Check out this link for more information about the Sahtak Awalan – Your Health First campaign.