Short exercise break good for kids

With only a few days left for the start of Ramadhan, all necessary arrangements are being made to ensure availability of all services and goods required during the holy month of fasting.

At the same time, this is the period when consumption and wastage of food increases enormously.

According to a report in Ecomena, around one-fifth of the food purchased or prepared during Ramadhan finds its way to garbage bins or landfills.

“This translates into tonnes of precious food which could have been used for feeding tens of millions of hungry people in impoverished countries of Asia, Africa and elsewhere”, says the report.

There are approximately 805 million people worldwide who live with chronic hunger, of which 60 per cent are women. Almost five million children under the age of five die of malnutrition-related causes every day.

Reducing food losses and waste is gathering increasing global concern and action. Governments, research institutions, producers, LONDON: Motivating schoolchildren to take a 15-minute break from class to do physical activity may boost their health and fitness levels, a new study suggests.

The study examined the effectiveness of the popular Daily Mile initiative, which involves children taking a 15-minute break from class to do physical activity.

The findings, published in the journal BMC Medicine, indicate that The Daily Mile can help combat global problems such as low physical activity, high sedentary behaviour, declining fitness levels and high levels of obesity.

“Our research observed catering businesses.

The Ecomena report by Rehan Ahmad suggests that the foremost steps to reduce food wastage during Ramadhan are behavioural change, increased public awareness, strong legislations, creation of food banks and community participation.

“Effective laws and mass sensitisation campaigns are required to persuade the people to adopt waste minimisation practices and implement sustainable lifestyles”, suggests the report.

Establishment of food banks in residential as well as commercial areas can be a very good way to utilise surplus food in a humane and ethical manner.

“In fact, food banks in countries like Egypt, India and Pakistan have been operating successfully, however, there is a real need to have such initiatives on a massscale to tackle the menace of food waste”, says report.

The best way to reduce food waste during Ramadhan is to feel solidarity towards millions and millions of people around the world who face enormous hardships in having a single meal each day. positive changes in children who participated in The Daily Mile intervention, compared to our control school where the scheme was not introduced,” said one of the study authors Colin Moran from the University of Stirling in Britain.

The Daily Mile was founded in February 2012 by Elaine Wyllie, the then headteacher of St Ninians Primary School in Stirling, to improve the fitness of her pupils.

Children are encouraged to run, jog or walk around their school grounds during a 15-minute break from class, which is in addition to normal intervals and physical education lessons.

CAN HELP COMBAT LOW PHYSICAL ACTIVITY, HIGH SEDENTARY BEHAVIOUR, DECLINING FITNESS LEVELS AND HIGH LEVELS OF OBESITY