‘Sugar boards' coming to schools: CBSE's push to fight students' diabetes risk
With most of the school canteens brimming with colas, chips, and candies, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) ) has rolled out a directive asking all affiliated schools to install 'sugar boards'—a step aimed at tackling the growing risk of Type 2 diabetes among children.
In a move blending health education with visual awareness, over 26,000 CBSE schools across India have been instructed to display information on sugar content in everyday foods, its health risks, and alternatives to sugary snacks and drinks. Schools have been given a July 15 deadline to upload photographs of the boards as proof of compliance, a board official said in a missive to all the school principal.
'There is a clear link between the rise in diabetes cases among children and the easy availability of sugary snacks, soft drinks, and processed foods within school environments,' CBSE said in a letter to school principals.
CBSE officials cited findings that children between 4 to 10 years derive around 13% of their daily calories from sugar, while those aged 11 to 18 years consume up to 15%, three times the recommended limit of 5%.
The proliferation of sugary snacks, beverages, and processed foods, often readily available in school environments, contributes significantly to this excessive intake, said Praggya M Singh, director (academics), CBSE.
These boards will include data on recommended daily sugar limits, sugar content in commonly consumed items, and long-term health consequences such as obesity, diabetes, and poor academic performance.
The directive follows an appeal from the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), which urged CBSE to ensure the health rights of children, especially those from marginalised groups, are upheld through preventive measures in schools.
Former CBSE chairman Ashok Ganguly urged the board to embed such efforts into the core curriculum for lasting impact. 'We need to move beyond posters and ensure that health education is felt and internalised by students. The NEP 2020 already supports integrating physical and health education into all school levels,' Ganguly said. He suggested that CBSE develop supplementary material under a 'Frontline Curriculum' to further engage students in understanding the effects of sugar and nutrition.
School principals in Lucknow expressed support for the initiative. 'We already conduct adolescent health sessions, and this move will help reinforce healthy eating habits,' said Meenakshi Bahadur, principal of Study Hall.
'A healthy mind resides in a healthy body. We fully support the initiative,' added Fr Paul Correa, principal of Cathedral Senior Secondary School.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
a day ago
- Time of India
Schools focus on awareness, hygiene to curb virus spread
1 2 Kolkata: As state schools reopened after the summer vacation on Monday, institute heads implemented precautionary and hygiene measures against the fresh Covid surge to prevent the spread of infections while ensuring students did not panic. Even CISCE and CBSE school heads are putting together advisories, to be issued once summer vacation gets over for affiliated institutes. State school principals said they were keeping a close watch on the Covid developments and advising students to be cautious. Bhowanipore Mitra Institution has asked students not to share tiffin or mid-day meals. "Students have been told not to come to school if they have fever or cough and alert their teachers if they feel uncomfortable in class. But we have said there's nothing to panic about," said headmaster Raja Dey, adding Covid guidelines had been posted in class groups. Children's Welfare Association High School headmistress Sarbari Sengupta said she, too, had told students not to attend school if they had fever, cough or cold. The school has introduced the 'water bell' for children to drink adequate water at regular intervals. Hare School has reopened taps beside the main gate, where students have to wash their hands. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 1 Teaspoon A Night Melts Fat Like Never Before! Your Clothes Will Fit. Hollywood & Health Learn More Undo Headmaster Tapan Maiti said, "As no govt advisory has been issued yet, we are focusing on awareness." Jadavpur Vidyapith headmaster Partha Pratim Baidya pointed out while they were focusing on basic hygiene, they were also trying to hold as many classes as possible till Aug. "Our advice is to maintain cleanliness and hygiene. But we are careful not to spread panic."
Indian Express
2 days ago
- Indian Express
Sumedha Pathak beats out ‘inspiration' Rubina Francis for Para World Cup shooting gold
Moments after 28-year-old Sumedha Pathak won her first WSPS World Cup individual gold in the women's P2 10m air pistol SH1 final in Changwon, Korea, she was hugged by Paris Paralympics bronze medallist and compatriot Rubina Francis, who finished seventh in the same category. For Sumedha, who edged out another Indian, Shrishti Arora, to win the gold with a score of 235.2, and many of her peers, Francis is an inspiration. 'Rubina mam has always been an inspiration for me and other shooters and whenever we compete at the shooting range, we see each other as inspiration as well motivating,' Sumedha told The Indian Express from Changwon, Korea. Daughter of pharmaceutical entrepreneur Brijesh Chandra Pathak, a young Sumedha would always be keen in her studies as well as listening about her father's social work in their hometown of Varanasi. In 2013, after complaining of fever and body pains, she was diagnosed with Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis resulting in spinal paralysis. The Pathak family would then spend months in hospitals in Delhi as well Kolkata before the youngster recovered, with her body movement below her chest being completely nil. 'After spending more than a year in recovery at different hospitals, when we returned home, the first thing I told Sumedha was to have belief that we will excel in whatever way we can. We live in a joint family and the entire family ensured that Sumedha always remained focussed on her goals whether it be studies or whatever field she chose,' says father Brijesh Chandra Pathak. Sumedha would top the CBSE 12th exam in commerce stream in specially abled division in India with 91.04 percent in 2016. It was in 2018 that her father, along with consultation with international shooters Asif and Ajit Singh Suryavanshi and coach Santosh Tiwari, got a makeshift shooting range built at their home. While Sumedha would start with pistol shooting, the coaches would face the problem of setting the right posture for the youngster. 'Sumedha's body movement is very restricted and hence we could not make her start in rifle shooting. Initially, when she started pistol shooting, her upper body would fall ahead. So we would start with the dry shooting part, working to increase her upper body and shoulder strength. Once we could achieve the right posture and balance on a wheelchair, we increased shots to 40-60 shots daily and she would train for 2-3 hours,' remembers coach Santosh Tiwari. Father Brijesh too talks about the initial struggles. 'While we had built the shooting range at the parking space of our home, Sumedha used to spend a lot of time for physiotherapy sessions too. During 2020-2021, early Covid-19 times, we got a new range built inside our home. We are lucky that the whole shooting community of Varanasi and UP would support her. (When the new) shooting range (came up) in Varanasi in 2024, it meant that the likes of Sumedha could dream of training at a world class facility one day in Varanasi,' says Pathak. In 2022, Sumedha made the Indian Para shooting team and was part of the Indian pistol team which won the silver medal in the WSPS World Cup in France and Korea respectively. In 2023, Sumedha finished seventh in women's P2 10m air pistol SH1 in the Hangzhou Asian Para Games. 'In shooters like Sumedha, the main challenge for coaches is to strike a balance between the upper body strength suited for their shooting style. While the technique can be tweaked based on the posture, the upper body strength has to be the strongest and she has been able to work on that,' says national para pistol coach Subash Rana. In Khelo India Para Games in March this year, Sumedha had scored a score of 237.5 to win the gold. On Monday, she qualified at the second spot with a score of 565 behind Francis, who shot 566. In the final, Sumedha was placed third after the second series before she made her way to the gold medal elimination round followed by her winning the gold with a score of 235.2. 'The Khelo India gold made Sumedha believe that she can win big in finals too and to edge out Rubina then also helped her confidence. While she has won team medals before, this Individual gold is a new beginning for her,' says Jaiprakash Nautiyal, chief coach Indian Para Shooting team. Nitin Sharma is an Assistant Editor with the sports team of The Indian Express. Based out of Chandigarh, Nitin works with the print sports desk while also breaking news stories for the online sports team. A Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award recipient for the year 2017 for his story 'Harmans of Moga', Nitin has also been a two-time recipient of the UNFPA-supported Laadli Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity for the years 2022 and 2023 respectively. Nitin mainly covers Olympics sports disciplines with his main interests in shooting, boxing, wrestling, athletics and much more. The last 17 years with The Indian Express has seen him unearthing stories across India from as far as Andaman and Nicobar to the North East. Nitin also covers cricket apart from women's cricket with a keen interest. Nitin has covered events like the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the 2011 ODI World Cup, 2016 T20 World Cup and the 2017 AIBA World Youth Boxing Championships. An alumnus of School of Communication Studies, Panjab University, from where he completed his Masters in Mass Communications degree, Nitin has been an avid quizzer too. A Guru Nanak Dev University Colour holder, Nitin's interest in quizzing began in the town of Talwara Township, a small town near the Punjab-Himachal Pradesh border. When not reporting, Nitin's interests lie in discovering new treks in the mountains or spending time near the river Beas at his hometown. ... Read More
The Hindu
5 days ago
- The Hindu
Watch: Covid cases rise, adolescent health, skin care and more
We address the elephant in the room – COVID cases are rising. There is a palpable sense of panic. Is it a pandemic? Should we take precautions? In the US, health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jnr has said Covid boosters are not to be given to pregnant women and children, with experts already questioning this move. We also talk about the Lancet Commission report on adolescent health and childhood obesity, and the installation of sugar boards in CBSE schools. Back to the US, legendary musician Billy Joel has cancelled his concerts due to an illness called NPS. What is it all about? In our expert segment, we speak to Dr. Monisha Madhumita, Assistant Professor at the Department of Dermatology, in Chennai's Saveetha Medical College. Dr Madhumita talks about skin care routines in this varying climate of blazing sunshine followed by rains, skin pigmentation issues and more. Presentation: Ramya Kannan and Zubeda Hamid Editing: Thamodharan B. Videography: Thamodharan B. and Shiva Raj
