‘You are what you eat’

The lockdown has led students to fall into the ‘eat, sleep, study, repeat’ pattern. With schools closed and fewer physical activities to do in and around the house, they often find themselves munching on unhealthy comfort food at home, sitting through online classes, bingeing on some Netflix series and thereby engaging in a sedentary lifestyle.

Understanding the importance of inculcating healthy food habits and an active schedule for students, especially through the pandemic, Apeejay School, Kharghar observed the ‘Nutrition and Fitness Week’ from September 6 to 9 through a virtual assembly of class 11 students. Alongside, students from classes 6 to 8 at the school worked towards generating awareness about nutrition by conducting a ‘Rainbow Platter Exhibition.’

The school is committed to ensure intellectual, mental, emotional and social growth of students along with imparting quality education and value-based teaching. Following this agenda, the virtual event for class 11 students began with a prayer to the Almighty to seek blessings. This was followed by a ‘Thought of the Day’ shared by student, Aditya Bhandari, “The dwelling of a healthy mind has a profound addiction to exercises and healthy eating so that the body lives without restriction.”

At the virtual event, students exchanged self-written poems depicting the importance of nutrition in everyday life. The significance of healthy eating was emphasised through a skit written by students Sahana Iyer, Anushka Gupta and Dirshak Deepak Patro. The spirit of Nutrition week was further cultivated among students by speeches from Archana Maini, Vedant H. and Dikshita Patra.

The assembly concluded with a speech from Principal, Ms. Tejaswini Katdare highlighting the importance of consuming a balanced diet, followed by a vote of thanks.

At the Rainbow Platter Exhibition, students of classes 6 to 8, created and presented delicious food recipes with the help of their family members. Through this experience, students learnt to incorporate balanced ingredients in everyday foods and came up with a healthy mix of dishes to beat the pandemic blues. The activity sowed seeds for learning an essential life skill: cooking paired with a sense of creative satisfaction for students as they relished their dishes at the closing of the exhibition.

“Nutrition and exercise complement each other and these are the ways to maintain a healthy and fit body. It is important to have nutritious food to keep ourselves fit and going to perform our daily tasks without interruption. Craving for junk food is normal to each one of us but we need to practice moderation or try to avoid them altogether.”

-Ms.Tejaswini Katdare, Principal, Apeejay School, Kharghar