With the start of another school year, the Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) is once again emphasizing the importance of healthy eating for children, highlighting some top tips to help parents.
Dr Moudi Hamad Hajri, Head of Dietetics Service at PHCC said it’s important to ensure that your children maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle. The food that children eat is a very important factor for their development and growth. As parents, you need to make time in the morning to pack your children a healthy lunch with all the nutrition they need for a busy day at school. Dr Hajri also pointed out the importance of children getting a good night’s sleep and how parents should instil a regular bedtime schedule that allows children to have between nine to 11 hours of sleep.
Other Top Back-to-School Nutrition Tips from PHCC:
- Make sure your children have breakfast. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and will help fuel your child’s mind, ensuring a productive day at school.
- Make sure your children are constantly drinking water. Pack their bags with at least one water bottle, to avoid dehydration during the hot summer days.
- Pack your children healthy school lunches to help keep their blood sugar levels stable, adding different options in each lunchbox. A portion of carbs like whole wheat bread, protein like cheese, fruit and vegetables like slices of cucumber and carrot, a complete meal which will provide constant energy to concentrate and play.
- Include some fruit and vegetable in your children’s packed lunches, in order to boost their fibre consumption – which helps them absorb food better.
- Adding probiotics to your children’s diet can help maintain a healthy immune system. Foods such as yoghurt, pickles and cheese would do the trick!
For updates and more tips from PHCC, visit their website at phcc.qa.
