The Ministry of Health (MOH), represented by the Nutrition General Department, participated in the Universal Children's Day celebrations, which were organized recently by the Ministry of Culture and Information at King Fahad Cultural Center in Riyadh, through raising awareness among children. The department established an awareness pavilion, where several introductive and awareness activities were launched on the importance of health among children and the role of nutrition in this regard.
To that effect, various visual, written and interactive awareness tools about balanced and healthy diet were presented. In addition, the pavilion shed light on ways of combating diseases associated with the food behavior, and introduced the Dietary Guidelines for Saudis, symbolically dubbed: “Healthy Food Palm”, as well as the daily food rations recommended for each person a day.
Likewise, awareness publications and gifts, offered by the Healthy Food Palm, were offered to children. Also, the department identified what is meant by the healthy and unhealthy food and established another pavilion, in which a contest was held under the title (Color your Food) for children of both genders between 3 and 15 years old. The drawings focused on healthy balanced foods which are useful for children.
Moreover, the activities included establishing an awareness caricature exhibition under the title (Healthy Food in Caricature), in addition to launching a contest on healthy food, during which blindfolded children of all ages used pencils in drawing. More than 370 children participated in the contest and benefited from its activities. The awarded children received in-kind and awareness prizes in addition to appreciation certificates from the Nutrition General Department to encourage their talents.
In a similar fashion, the pavilion was visited by a number of cultural and arts celebrities who expressed their admiration for the activities of the department. They encouraged the visiting children to benefit from the Healthy Food Palm and apply its rules in their daily lives.
On his part, the Supervisor-General of the MOH’s Nutrition General Department, Mishari bin Hamad Al-Dakhil, said that the department is always keen - through its awareness plans, programs and activities - to promote nutritional culture among families and children, adding that the department’s participation in such events comes as part of its endeavors to bolster joint cooperation with regard to the awareness campaigns aimed at promoting nutritional culture and raising nutritional and healthy awareness among the community’s members; that is to be added to contributing to modifying the wrong nutritional concepts and behaviors among the visiting families, especially raising nutritional awareness among children.
He added that the Dietary Guidelines for Saudis, symbolically dubbed: “Healthy Food Palm”, is meant to promote health among all age groups in the society, including children, by highlighting the daily food rations recommended for each person a day as well as the importance of taking healthy food and practicing exercises regularly (for all age groups), thus helping reduce the risk of developing nutrition-associated diseases.