Health camp for students can help reduce obesity
By Norhayati Zalani

Kuala Belait - To Raise awareness amongst students about the importance of maintaining a healthy weight, balanced diet and doing physical and mental activities, a health camp was organised by the Chung Ching Secondary School in the Belait District.

A total of 40 students from eight secondary schools in Belait District participated in the camp. Datin Hjh Asmah Hj Abd Rahman, the Registrar of the Education and Teachers Institution of the Ministry of Education, explained that this competition gives students the opportunity to show their creativity in presenting their own ideas and paper work in teaching them to be responsible and reliable leaders.

"Looking after our health is an important job because it not only focuses on one aspect of health but also eating healthy food and activities, (which) can benefit the physical and mental fitness. Research shows that one of the problems that cause heart attack and stroke is unstable body weight and obesity," she explained.

In the ministry's health magazine, dieticians explain that people's inabilities to stabilise their diets is due to varying mealtimes, eating too fast which causes slow digestion and eating too much that leads to obesity.

"Based on the Brunei National Nutritional Survey 1997, obesity has increased especially among young children with an increase of 12.8 per cent among adult women and 11.2 percent among men," she added.

"The Health Promotion Sections of the Health and the Education Ministry have been working together to ensure a staple diet for primary schoolchildren through the Obesity Intervention Programmes," Datin Hjh Asmah said.

"I hope with this health camp, the students can get some benefit to study about the importance of a healthy diet and activities," she said.

Sim Jeng Siang, the principal of Chung Ching Secondary School, said the first phase was held at the end of 2005, where the Form 4 students prepared all the health camp paperwork for the competition.

"Eight students were appointed to be the committee for this year's B-@ktif competition in this health camp in January last year, where they successfully entered the second phase by presenting their working paper to the officers and staff of the Youth Department and the institution representatives, schools and Youth Organisations. "

He also said that in December last year the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports announced that the Chung Ching Secondary School successfully entered the final stage of the third phase to complete the project.

The objectives of the competition are to give the opportunity to the youth in planning and accomplishing their chosen systematic project.

It is also to develop a sense of ownership and responsibility in managing their project. The B-@ktif competition is hoped to improve the quantity of committed youth in youth affairs as well as identify potential youth in organising their own projects and become a role model to others.-- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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