The competent training teams at the Obesity Control Program in the Eastern Region Health Affairs General Directorate and the General Department of Education have finished the training of 295 persons of healthcare staff (physicians and nurses) and educational staff (fe/male health workers) in each of Al-Dammam, Al-Khobar, Al-Qatif, Safwa and Ras-Tanura sectors that are covered by the initiative for the current year (1438H). This came by means of holding a number of 10 training courses, as a preliminary step to begin a five-year joint initiative between the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education, meant to reduce the obesity rates among fe/male students in the region’s schools.
It is worth mentioning that this initiative comes within the framework of reducing obesity prevalence, the matter which positively reflects on controlling a number of non-communicable diseases and reducing the obesity prevalence rates among school-age children and adolescents (at a rate of 5%). The initiative also aims at improving the nutritious lifestyle among fe/male students, promoting the physical activity among this group in the community, and providing the preventive and therapeutic services to those fe/male students suffering from obesity.
The training courses come as part of the activities of Obesity Control Program in cities and governorates of the Eastern Region and the Obesity Control Initiative among students. Furthermore, these training courses touched upon introducing the initiative, presenting its mechanism and procedures, and promoting the health awareness about the importance of the balanced diet and physical activity in obesity control, in addition to the role of nurses and physicians in reducing obesity rates in schools. This was achieved by means of the participation in developing the initiative plan with the rest of healthcare team members and the implementation of that plan, as well as taking certain measures: (height, weight, and body mass index) to the visitors of health center, and recorded them in the medical file, in addition to the registration of obesity and overweight early detection cases in a special file and referring them to family medicine clinic, in addition to following the treatment plan for people suffering from obesity with the physician.