New Growth Charts for Schools’ Students

The Supreme Council of Health (SCH) organized during the period 23-26 Feb. 2015 a workshop on the new World Health Organization’s (WHO) Growth Charts for Private Schools’ students in Qatar, from various grades (Primary, Preparatory, Secondary) of age 5-19 years. The workshop held at Grand Heritage Hotel witnessed the participation of (160) male and female nurses from the both boys and girls schools.

The workshop aims at training the nurses on how to use and apply the New Growth Charts set up by the WHO to early detect cases of malnutrition either increase or decrease in weight, identify students’ growth problems, establish a special database system on students’ growth pattern in addition to constructing a control and monitoring system of students’ health conditions specially with regards to obesity and overweight and how to register these data and maintain them in the students’ health records at the health clinic or at school.

Sheikha Dr. Al Anoud Bint Mohammed, the Director of Health Protection and Non-Communicable Diseases Department said in her address to the workshop: The adoption and implementation initiative of WHO new Growth Charts comes as an application the National Work Plan Program of Physical Activities and Nutrition State Plan 2011 – 2016 which strives to reduce the sequences of obesity and the related chronic diseases prevailing in the State such as: cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and specific types of cancer.

“This initiative is considered as an important contribution of Health Protection and Non-Communicable Diseases Department of the SCH in Qatar National Vision 2030 focusing on the promotion of human development and individuals’ health in Qatar community to build-up healthy generations” Said Dr. Al Anoud, “The initiative, moreover, represents a quantum leap towards achieving every child’s rights to have optimal growth, healthy and happy life based on scientific evidences worldwide which establish that all children have the potential of identical growth as far as their nutritional and health needs are met. It has been perceived that the environment is a key factor in growth pattern, hence, these charts might, also, be used to evaluate the abidance with United Nations’ Convention on Rights of Child (CRC)”.Explained Dr. Al Anoud.

Dr. Al Anoud elaborated that: In view of its role, responsibility and concern over the issues pertaining to the public health, in general, and child’s health, in particular, the SCH prepared a variety of training workshops for school nurses on how to use and apply WHO’s new Growth Charts and educate them on the necessary protective measures against nutrition related growth disorders.

The Director of Health Protection and Non-Communicable Diseases Department further confirmed that the New Growth Charts set up by the WHO aims at early detection of cases of malnutrition either increase or decrease in weight, identify students’ growth problems, establish a special database system on students’ growth pattern in addition to constructing a control and monitoring system of students’ health conditions specially with regards to obesity and overweight and refer these cases to the relevant Primary Health Care Centre (PHCC) for follow-up and treatment.

1She further underlined that this program has been applied during the school year 2013-2014 for all independent schools students in Qatar and now the collection of data is afoot to figure out their growth pattern. She stressed the importance of rallying the efforts of all the concerned in successfully implementing this initiative aiming at promoting students’ health and creating a diseases-free community.

Dr. Al Anoud concluded her speech by applauding SCH work team and all involved in health protection and non-communicable diseases prevention, Public Relations staff, loyal partners, representatives of PHCC, SCE and HMC for their fruitful participation in the success of this magnificent work.

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