Poor nutritional standards in Dubai’s school canteens

BY PMA RASHEED

The Gulf Today, 9 July 2010

Canteens of Dubai’s 55 per cent of schools do not adhere to municipal guidelines on nutritional standards, food safety and hygiene, according to a study.

The school canteen health survey carried out by the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) recently revealed that 68 per cent of the city’s schools provide readymade food to students.

The cross-sectional survey carried out between April and June this year, covered a population of 150,000 students from the emirate’s 216 schools in both public and private sectors.

According to the survey, only 22 per cent of the schools prepare food in school cafeterias, while 10 per cent of schools do not provide any food services for students.

“About 77 per cent of the schools provide sandwiches on a daily basis, and 67 per cent provide bread and cereals.  Fifty-four per cent of the schools provide fresh fruit salads; however, it is on the menu only three times a week. Thirty per cent of the schools provide hotdogs and burgers, while 51 per cent of them provide dairy products and 21 per cent provide fresh milk on daily,” detailed a DHA statement.

“Sixty-three per cent of the schools provide processed fruit juices and seven per cent provide soft drinks daily, and one per cent of the schools daily provide energy drinks - a practice that never should be happening at school canteens,” it said. “And 20 per cent of schools have vending machines in their premises; of these, 12 per cent of the vending machines are stocked with soft drinks.”

“About 58 per cent of schools have two break timings and the average total break time amounts to approximately 30 minutes. About 61 per cent of schools have a canteen committee which is active and of these schools only 31 per cent have student representatives in this committee.”

In light of the survey, the DHA plans to develop unified policies and comprehensive guidelines to ensure the supply of healthy and nutritious meals at the canteens of schools across the emirate.

In terms of important recommendations, the public health and safety committee of the DHA has highlighted the need to develop a holistic school approach to nutrition.

“The proposals, based on the information provided in the survey, will be circulated to the school communities and other stakeholders for feedback,” according to health officials.

Dr Ali Al Marzooqi, Director of the Public Health Safety Sector in the Health Policy and Strategy Department of the DHA, said, “The unified dietary guidelines or handbook, consisting of relevant nutritional facts and recommended food intake for pupils, should be developed for the schools.”

“The guidelines include information on food, nutrition and healthy eating habits as well as takes into account values, attitudes and belief about food and eating. Also, potential sources of healthy food providers should be identified,” he added.

“Another significant recommendation is to involve health professionals like doctors and nurses of school clinics, to promote healthy eating habits among the students,” he pointed out.

According to Al Marzooqi, there is an urgent need to engage school principals, administrators and teachers and ensure they commit to improving nutrition in school canteens.

“Students and their parents should emerge as primary decision-makers in selection of food items, becoming part of canteen committees in the schools,” he added.

“Message on health and physical activities should be shared with them through articles in the school newsletter, announcements at school assemblies and community activities.”

“The DHA wants to build awareness and knowledge in schools and collect and disseminate current and reputable information about nutrition and health by roping in nutritional experts to be guest speakers in schools, through videos and other activities and educating teachers in the field of nutrition,” he noted.

Al Marzooki said that the survey provided the DHA with vital information and the baseline data on the food patterns of the schools, accordingly to develop policies for a better food provision services for the students.

“Nutrition across schools in Dubai is a crucial issue to ensure students follow a healthy eating pattern and do not get hooked on to fast foods which provide empty calories and are a leading cause of child obesity globally,” he added.

Dr Fathia Hatem, head of the health promotion section in the public health and safety department at the DHA, said, “Mostly public schools were found to have canteen committees and this is probably due to the implementation of the school health project across public schools.”

“About 62 per cent of the schools have their own canteen policy. The public schools mainly have only one slot for break timings,” she added.

“About 60 per cent of the school administrators urged the DHA to provide further assistance by health professionals, while 47 per cent asked for nutritional educational support of teachers and 43 per cent asked for parents’ support,” pointed out Dr Hatem.

“Of the 216 schools in Dubai, 82 are public schools and 134 are private schools, and the response rate was found to be 95 per cent for private schools and 78 per cent for public schools,” revealed the DHA survey.

It said, “Of the schools surveyed, it was found that 54 per cent of the students across the 216 schools are Emiratis, 24 per cent are Asians and 9 per cent are Arabs and Westerners.”

Bacteria exist mostly in kitchens

BY PMA RASHEED

The Gulf Today, 29 Aug 2009

Kitchens are dirtier than bathrooms when it comes to bacterial contamination. And the cleaning cloth used in the kitchen might be the dirtiest item in a home, reveals an international hygiene study.

Giving an insight into cleaning behaviours globally, the results of the study titled 'Hygiene in the Home Study 2009', which was carried out on international, regional and local levels, had been released at the Hygiene Council conference recently held in Cairo.

The study was carried out by the international Hygiene Council in eight countries including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Germany, India, Malaysia, South Africa, the UK and the US.

According to the study, 86 per cent of the kitchen clothes harbour worse levels of bacteria, and it's not a surprise that only 25 per cent of householders are aware of the fact that the kitchen clothes are having such dangerous level of bacteria.

"The kitchen tap is the second dirtiest item in a home. About 52 per cent, more than half, of the tested taps were unsatisfactory and only eight per cent of homeowners knew the truth," exposes the study.

Fifty-two per cent of the people who were questioned as part of the study thought the most contaminated item in the home would be the toilet flush handle.

In fact, the kitchen taps are twice, 13 per cent, more likely to be the home of E. coli than the toilet flushes that have six per cent only.

A majority of people often ignore the kitchen cloth when it comes to cleaning. They simply rinse it and wash it with liquid rather than disinfecting it.

Meanwhile, the toilet is generally considered as an important area to be cleaned up and that appears to be relatively clean. People are willing to change though.

A significant 89 per cent of the study participants were ready to change their cleaning habits for the better. However, 15 per cent of the participants failed the hygiene test.

John Oxford, Chairman of the Hygiene Council and Professor of Virology at Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry, told The Gulf Today that the hygiene study highlights significant gaps in the public's hygiene knowledge and these really need to be addressed.

"The importance of cleaning key hygiene hotspots in the home is paramount, particularly at a time when we're all concerned about the spread of infectious diseases such as swine flu. Practicing good hygiene is something we can all do to break the chain of infection and protect ourselves and our families."

Bacteria and Viruses

Dr Oxford explained that the clean look of things doesn't mean it is hygienically clean, bacteria and viruses cannot be seen by the naked eye.

Appearances can be deceiving and this was borne out by the study with 33 per cent of visibly clean kitchen cloths found to be dirty in microbiological terms. A further five per cent of clothes actually appeared to be relatively new yet failed the tests. In the cases of kitchen taps, 21 per cent also appeared clean, yet failed the tests.

Hygiene hypothesis

"The motivation for people to clean their home is sometimes challenged by the view that too much cleaning is bad for your immune system and contributes to an increase in allergic diseases," he added.

The Hygiene Council concluded that there is no scientific data to support this theory, commonly known as the hygiene hypothesis. While the organisation recognised that some exposure to microbes is an important step in the process of natural immunisation, in the sense that exposure to harmful pathogens can cause disease, but it's unnecessary and preventable.

An International consumer survey conducted by the Hygiene Council revealed that removal of germs from the home is often not the primary reason for cleaning with over a quarter of people, 27 per cent, only doing so to make their home 'look' clean and 'smell' nice.

"Participants in the Home Study 2009 of the Hygiene Council were also asked about the hygiene hypothesis. While support for the theory appears to vary significantly from country to country, overall a reassuring 43 per cent do not believe in the notion at all, while 24 per cent thought there might be some truth in it, but eight per cent of the participants were not sure. Only 25 per cent of them firmly believed in it," pointed out John Oxford.

He noted that it's important to be practical and pay attention to areas that represent the greatest risk of infection. Handwashing at key times, appropriate surface disinfection of hand and food contact sites and proper laundry sanitation are where efforts should be focused. Good hygiene advice has even more relevance now in light of the current swine flu outbreak.

Children at risk

According to Prof Oxford, the study showed that 10 per cent of highchairs (places where children eat) are heavily contaminated with bacteria, as toilet flushes, and five per cent of them are dangerously contaminated with E. coli, which is especially worrying as this poses a serious food safety risk.

"Just eight per cent identified the highchair as a primary area of contamination in the home. Over three quarters of highchairs were found to be satisfactory, most likely due to the fact that 84 per cent of respondents reported cleaning the highchair at least daily or every time it was used. Disturbingly though, eight per cent of householders said they never cleaned the highchair at all," he said.

Cold and flu protection

"Understanding of the importance of hand-washing in cold and flu prevention is relatively high among the survey respondents. Nearly half, about 45 per cent of them think 'washing hands regularly' is the most effective way to avoid catching a cold or flu, whilst more than 22 per cent of the respondents think 'covering your nose and mouth when someone else sneezes' is the safe way and 10 per cent of them believe surface disinfection provide the best solutions," added Professor Oxford.