Government is moving to ensure that school children are provided with healthier meals and educated about proper diet and nutrition.
Minister of Education, Youth Affairs and Sports, Anthony Wood, made this disclosure at last weekend’s
Minister Wood said that his Ministry proposed to mount a programme on healthy lifestyles in all of this island’s schools, which will place special emphasis on diet and nutrition as well as the increased involvement in physical activity and sports.
“In this regard, the nutritional content of meals served in the school canteens and provided through the School Meals Programme will be properly evaluated; school management, parents and students will be given a stronger and more consistent message about proper diet and nutrition and the Ministry will be seeking to employ more teachers with specialised training in Physical Education”, Minister Wood explained.
The Sports Minister lauded the
He, however, voiced concern at the low level of participation in body building, which was reflected in the small number of participants in this year’s National Championships.
“There must be a concerted effort to effect a reversal in this recent trend so as to restore body building to its glory days when participation and spectator interest in the sport were very high”, he said.
To this end, Minister Wood said his Ministry, along with the new Board of Directors at the National Sports Council, would hold talks with the executive of the BABBFF to discuss a developmental programme to attract more people to the sport.
And, he urged the bodybuilding and fitness federation to add their comments to the discussions on the National Strategic Plan for Sports, which should commence shortly, to ensure that their needs are met.