Amman — From time to time, studies, figures, and facts come to light reflecting children's and teenagers' unhealthy eating behaviors, to the point where the numbers showing "rising rates of obesity and related diseases" have become increasingly alarming.
اضافة اعلان
At a time when concerns are growing over rising rates of overweight and obesity among children and teenagers, early prevention of excess weight is becoming a responsibility that extends beyond the child and their family, reaching schools, the surrounding environment, and daily lifestyle habits, from food to physical activity and screen use.
A recent local study, covering 403 teenagers aged 10 to 17, was published recently, showing a link between increased gaming hours and a decline in teenagers' self-assessment of their physical and mental health. Parents were the most prominent source of awareness among those who received guidance, accounting for 66.7% of guidance sources, while researchers concluded there is a need for initiatives that promote healthy habits and raise awareness of the risks of excessive gaming among children, teenagers, parents, and schools.
The study revealed indicators described as "concerning," with 32.9% of students suffering from overweight and obesity, 20.8% overweight and 12.1% obese. This rise is attributed to severe physical inactivity, as only 12% of students engage in physical activity for an hour daily, while 31.5% are entirely absent from school physical education classes.
Nutrition and Movement to Prevent Obesity
With this in mind, the "Tahammas" initiative, launched about ten years ago, continues its work in schools, universities, and community institutions, targeting children and youth with awareness-raising, assessment, and early detection of overweight and obesity, alongside offering free nutritional consultations, and trying to turn awareness into daily behavior at home and school.
On this, the initiative's official, clinical nutrition consultant Tareq Al-Farah, says the initiative's name sums up its core message: "Nutrition and Movement to Prevent Obesity" (Tahammas is an acronym in Arabic), based on the idea that a healthy lifestyle rests on eating proper food and engaging in physical activity, two fundamental factors in preventing overweight and obesity. According to Al-Farah, the majority of overweight and obesity cases are not linked to illnesses or medications, but result from insufficient physical activity, disrupted eating habits, and the quality of food consumed by children and young people, which makes lifestyle change an essential entry point for prevention.
The Impact of Obesity on a Child's Quality of Life
Regarding the initiative, Al-Farah affirms that the age group of 5 to 19 was chosen at the start of the volunteer work, before its scope was expanded to include university students up to around age 23, on the basis that school students and young people represent the nation's future, and that investing in their health is a genuine investment in society's health and the health economy.
Al-Farah affirms that being overweight or obese at an early age isn't just an issue related to appearance, but can carry health and psychological consequences that begin at an early age, explaining that obesity is considered a disease and can be linked to the emergence of chronic conditions, including high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease, in addition to other health problems.
The matter doesn't stop at the health aspect alone, according to Al-Farah, as obesity can affect a child's quality of life and psychological state, and the future rise in rates of related diseases is reflected in medical and treatment spending, which makes early prevention less costly and more effective than waiting for the problem to worsen.
Raising Nutritional Awareness
Over roughly ten years, the initiative has carried out visits to a number of schools, universities, and community institutions, focusing on screening for overweight and obesity and raising nutritional awareness, with Al-Farah noting that "the start of behavioral change is increased awareness," but this awareness requires integrated stages that begin with the student themselves, and don't stop there, but extend to parents, the school, and the community.
Within this framework, the initiative has delivered awareness lectures in schools, alongside around 400 digital nutrition tips in Arabic and English, donated to schools wishing to publish them on their websites, serving as daily nutritional awareness messages benefiting students, parents, and site visitors.
The initiative has also produced ten awareness videos addressing obesity and overweight from various angles, from defining the problem and its risks to solutions and prevention methods, in addition to organizing nutritional activities that can be used through school radio, school theater, or by organizing dedicated nutrition days, with the aim of making awareness part of daily school life.
During these activities, the initiative brings its work to the school, receiving students, members of the administrative and teaching staff, as well as parents when arrangements allow, to provide scientific and practical assessment and nutritional consultations to students at no financial cost.
The Importance of the School Food Environment
Al-Farah believes the importance of this step lies in early detection, as being overweight, if left without monitoring or intervention, can turn into obesity, at which point the journey back to a desired weight becomes longer and more difficult.
That's why Al-Farah believes "the school is part of the solution," as the school isn't just a place for receiving information, but an environment that influences student behavior, and therefore its responsibility in confronting overweight and obesity begins with the food environment itself, stressing the importance of having systems and policies that regulate the school cafeteria's operations and raise nutritional awareness, based on the idea that "a student's health is part of the school's responsibility."
Al-Farah also notes that some cafeterias may be driven primarily by profit, while other schools can adopt policies that encourage healthy food choices, whether through the cafeteria or through what students bring in their school meals, such as vegetables, fruits, dairy, and other beneficial foods.
He notes that the school plays a pivotal role in this area, calling on school administrations to view student health as part of their responsibility, not an issue resting solely on the family, as the initiative tries to offer practical ideas for schools, including holding nutrition days and hosting nutrition experts, carrying out awareness activities, up to experiences such as creating "nutritional awareness gardens," helping to make the school an environment friendly to proper nutrition.
The Impact of Increased Video Game Use
But this can't happen without cooperation from the family and those who interact with the child daily, even after they return from school, Al-Farah says, since the family is what shapes a child's eating habits, and the responsibility isn't limited to parents alone, as some children spend time with their grandparents, and "spoiling grandchildren and offering them certain foods, with good intentions, can reinforce inappropriate eating habits," as he puts it.
Therefore, Al-Farah believes raising nutritional awareness is a shared responsibility, involving parents, grandparents, the school, and the community, because a child lives within an integrated environment that influences their food choices and daily movement, warning that the continued rise in overweight and obesity rates with age could turn the problem into a greater burden on the health budget and on society, especially if the problem isn't addressed in its early stages.
On this, Al-Farah says the initiative doesn't overlook one of the most notable shifts in children's and young people's lives in recent years: the growing use of video games, mobile phones, computers, and television, and that spending long periods in front of screens is linked to reduced opportunities for movement and physical activity, especially when a child spends long hours gaming or watching content instead of being active.
Improving Eating Habits as an Early Line of Defense
He adds that the problem isn't just tied to reduced movement, as periods of gaming and entertainment are often accompanied by eating, so that food sometimes becomes part of the entertainment process, increasing the likelihood of consuming extra food and calories during periods when physical activity is low.
Al-Farah links this to the general shift in lifestyle, explaining that opportunities for movement and physical activity have declined compared to the past, at a time when ready-made foods and fast food have become more widespread, with a significant increase in fast-food restaurants, and demand for them meaning increased consumption of foods that are often high in calories and fat.
Al-Farah believes that tackling overweight and obesity shouldn't wait until a child reaches advanced stages requiring more complex treatment interventions, noting that improving eating habits and increasing movement represent an early line of defense that can reduce future risks.
He also notes that the initiative has recorded a number of success stories over its years of work, but the broader goal is to draw attention to this health problem, which isn't limited to Jordan but represents a global challenge, and to push various parties to participate in developing practical solutions for it.
Al-Farah stresses that prevention and early detection can ease the difficulty of the treatment journey in the future, rather than reaching more complex options, such as using medications or resorting to surgical interventions in some cases, and that this prevention requires "a partnership that begins with the child and family, and extends to the school and community," as Al-Farah puts it.
Resource: Al-Ghad. Reporting: Taghreed Al-Saayda
