PositiveNewsCorner

Based on inputs by Shahid Kazi

West Bengal Education Department has decided to introduce lessons in the school curriculum on the importance of maintaining healthy lifestyles. This step has been taken to raise awareness and prevent obesity among children.

The course will be implemented from the primary education level for which disbursal of funds has already started, a senior official confirmed.

Besides imparting theoretical knowledge, the curriculum would also highlight the practical aspect of tackling obesity such as the necessity of physical activity, regular measurement of certain parameters and eating healthy food, the official added.

Teachers will be taught yoga  and they in turn will try to get students habitual of practicing yoga to prevent obesity.

“The lessons will explain the necessity of regularly monitoring certain parameters like blood pressure, blood sugar and body weight. The first two factors have an intimate relation with obesity. All these will be explained in the curriculum to raise the awareness level of the students, which will eventually help their parents know about the basic things about obesity,” the official told PTI.

“The instruments for measuring these parameters will be bought by the schools from funds provided by the department, mainly meant for this purpose,” he said.

Weighing machines, skinfold callipers for determining state of obesity and glucometer for measuring blood sugar have also been purchased, he added.