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Department of Community Medicine, KIMS Organizes Workshop on Capacity Building for School Health
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Department of Community Medicine, KIMS Organizes Workshop on Capacity Building for School Health & Nutrition
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Department of Community Medicine, KIMS Organizes Workshop on Capacity Building for School Health & Nutrition
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Department of Community Medicine, KIMS Organizes Workshop on Capacity Building for School Health & Nutrition
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Department of Community Medicine, KIMS Organizes Workshop on Capacity Building for School Health & Nutrition
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Department of Community Medicine, KIMS Organizes Workshop on Capacity Building for School Health & Nutrition
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Department of Community Medicine, KIMS Organizes Workshop on Capacity Building for School Health & Nutrition
School nutrition plays a vital role in the physical and cognitive development of students, directly impacting their academic performance and overall well-being. Proper nutrition supports concentration, energy levels, and immunity, ensuring students are prepared for learning. Teachers are instrumental in promoting school nutrition by integrating healthy eating education into the curriculum, modeling positive behaviors, and encouraging balanced meals during school hours.
Department of Community Medicine, KIMS under the leadership of the Head of the Department, Professor Dr. Sonali Kar, in collaboration with King George Medical University (KGMU), Lucknow, organized a capacity building workshop on School Health and Nutrition on 25th November, 2024.
It was as an end line exercise of a multi centric micro-nutrients study done in Bhubaneswar between 2018 and 2021 on “Prevalence of Specific micro-nutrient deficiencies in school going children aged between 6-16 years in ten cities of India”. The capacity building workshop brought together educators from 10 schools of Bhubaneswar and provided a platform to disseminate the results of the study briefly as well as to discuss critical issues, share best practices, and explore actionable solutions to enhance the health and well-being of students through nutrition. The target audience were school teachers and administrators. This was towards fostering collaborative efforts to ensure holistic development among the educators and medical professionals in attendance.
The workshop included a pre- and a post-session assessment of the teachers on nutrition. Prof. (Dr.) Sonali Kar provided insights on the micro-nutrient study, its design and the findings which was followed by a session on Awareness regarding nutrition, highlighting importance of nutrition among the children and adolescents by Dr. Barkha Gupta (Director Nutrition, Hindustan Unilever Limited) and Dr. Divas Kumar from KGMU, Lucknow.
Dr. Ramya Pinnamaneni, Director, School of Public Health, KIIT DU addressed the gathering and discussed regarding nutrition and micronutrients. Prof. (Dr.) Swarnalata Das from department of Paediatrics enlightened the participants on adolescent nutrition and its impact on overall health and well-being. Dr. Snigdha Singh, Assistant Professor from the department of Community Medicine discussed regarding the future direction and the role of teachers in student’s health and nutrition.
Two post graduate students from department of Community Medicine presented their research – “Assessing the suitability and safety of food options available to school children in Bhubaneswar at lunch breaks” and “Compliance with COTPA rules and regulations in and around educational institutions of Bhubaneswar:a cross-sectional explorative study” which were conducted under the guidance of Prof. (Dr.) Sonali Kar in the schools of Bhubaneswar, whose teachers were part of this workshop as posters to disseminate the findings and make the teachers aware.
The Department expressed its deep gratitude to the visionary Founder of our institute, Dr. Achyuta Samanta, whose commitment to fostering inclusive and equitable education and healthcare has been a constant source of inspiration. His leadership motivated to prioritize school health and nutrition as a cornerstone of progress in health and beyond.
The department thanked the Dean and Principal, AVM Professor Dr. R.C Das, whose guidance and unwavering support had been instrumental in organizing this workshop. His presence in the session and continuous encouragement ensured that such meaningful initiatives get seamlessly executed.
The workshop organization was supported by Dr. Snigdha Singh (Assistant Professor, Community Medicine), PGs from the department: Dr. Angana Ray, Dr. Gouri Rath, Dr. Ayesha Das and Dr. Priyanka Mohanty and Ms. Padmini, Ms. Pravasini, Mr. Santosh and Mr. Sanjeet from the project team.