Educators will receive training on healthy eating and physical activity
A virtual course administered by its participants will allow teachers from the National Public Education Administration (ANEP) to address preventive actions against overweight and obesity in children and adolescents. The objective is to promote sports practices and good eating habits. Registrations can be made between July 17 and 31, and the material will be available between August 5 and September 29.
“When we include education in health policy, we are strengthening it doubly, because it is not only the treatment, but also the prevention,” said the Minister of Public Health (MSP), Karina Rando, this Tuesday, July 16, accompanied by the National Secretary of Sports, Sebastián Bauzá; the ANEP advisors, Dora Graziano and Juan Gabito; the representative of UNICEF in Uruguay, Francisco Benavides, and the manager of Professional Development at Ceibal, Martín Rebour, among other educational authorities.
The Secretary of State highlighted the coordination that made it possible to carry out the course “Seven practices of healthy eating and physical activity in educational environments. Guidelines for their implementation”, in order to address the complexities of the obesity problem.
He explained that these preventive measures based on nutrition in children and high school students are essential to avoid harmful habits and, with this, not only prevent morbid obesity, but also overweight.
Bauzá, meanwhile, highlighted the complementarity between education and sport to spread healthy eating practices in educational centers. “We are convinced that sport is a right for all Uruguayans, health too, and for that we must work together,” he said.
For his part, Graziano said that health should be conceived with a healthy diet and physical activity, in order to enable development and comprehensive training. “There is no education without health and health without education,” he stressed, and said that it has been proven that the quantity and quality of food generates consequences that are not only physical, but also intellectual, and therefore affect learning. “We need to familiarize students and their environment with what is good for their quality of life,” he added.
The course is organized by ANEP in conjunction with the MSP and the National Secretariat of Sports, with support from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and CEIBAL.
