7^th April to 19^th April 2014

The new session at The Jain International School commenced on 7^th April 2014 with a healthy note followed by a fortnight full of sessions on healthy living and health awareness exercises.

 

World Health Day is celebrated on 7^th April every year to mark the anniversary of the founding of WHO in 1948. Each year a theme is selected that highlights a priority area of public health. The Day provides an opportunity for individuals in every community to get involved in activities that can lead to better health.Goal of 2014 World health day is better protection from vector-borne diseases.– ‘Small bite, big threat’.

The new sessions’ first morning began with a special assembly with thought provoking messages on promoting health and thus creating health awareness among the students. The Principal Mrs. Ira Bhat, in her address, enlightened the students about the importance of health and personal hygiene. She advised the students to follow good food habits and a disciplined routine to lead full, productive and healthy lives because in the present era of changing life styles, reduced physical activity, constant stress and changing diets, an initiative has to be taken to raise awareness among the children about the need for a well-balanced diet as good health adds life to years and makes them physically and mentally active to achieve their ambitions.

This was followed by intra-class ‘Creative Writing Competition’ wherein the students penned down their views on the importance of healthy living, importance of yoga and laughter in life, healthy food and eating habits, etc. During the following days special messages were conveyed to the students on how to promote and maintain healthy lifestyle. The school too has a very healthy environment. The students undergo regular health check-ups and the school cleanliness is given prime importance.

The rapidly changing disease patterns throughout the world are closely linked to changing lifestyles, which include diets rich in sugars, widespread use of tobacco, and increased consumption of alcohol. In addition to socio-environmental determinants, oral disease is highly related to these lifestyle factors, which are risks to most chronic diseases as well as protective factors such as appropriate exposure to fluoride and good oral hygiene. Oral diseases qualify as major public health problems among the children and youth. Keeping this in mind our 15 days health session concluded with a workshop on ORAL HEALTHwhich was conducted by ‘SMILE OF TOMORROW’. The visiting doctors were Dr. Rahul Gupta, Dr. Manish Vishnoi and Dr.Nidhi Bajpai from Anti-tobacco Cell. The doctors addressed the students and told them about the reasons of tooth wear among the children and youth -- smoking and chewing tobacco are both strongly linked with multiple dental and other health hazards and so should be strongly avoided by the youth of today. This lesson has to be imparted to all the children at an early age to help them get the most out of their health routine.

On the whole the fortnight from 7^th to 19^th April was an investment in health – an investment into future. The programmes induced high doses of energy and motivation to make health and wellness a life-long priority in the times to come.