The Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP), represented by the Health Education & Promotion Department, today concluded the 3rd edition of the “Junior Chef” program, with the participation of 24 girl from various nationalities.
The program was held in cooperation between MoHAP, The Collage Talent Center at Sharjah Ladies Club, Carrefour, managed by Majid Al Futtaim Group and Sheraton Hotel, Mall of the Emirates.
The event was attended by HE Dr. Amin Hussein Al Amiri, Assistant Undersecretary for Public Health Policy and Licensing Sector, and Dr. Yousef Mohammad Al Serkal Assistant Undersecretary for Hospitals Sector,
Through this program, MoHAP aims at enhancing its efforts to motivate children to adopt healthy eating habits and to provide them with healthy cooking skills in a fun and entertaining atmosphere, with the participation of communities and civil society organizations in health promotion programs.
The program ran from 22 July to 8 August 2019, as part of a package of awareness programs and activities carried out by MoHAP’s Health Education & Promotion Department to promote health awareness among children about the importance of healthy food, as well as healthy shopping skills, away from fast food and processed foods.
The 17-day program focused on the children aged 11 – 14 years, through Interactive workshops under the supervision of Chef Mohannad Al Bkirat from Sheraton Hotel, Mall of the Emirates, in an atmosphere of fun, entertainment and a spirit of challenge, with the follow-up of parents and community groups.
The Junior Chef Program included a competition to prepare a healthy dish containing all the food groups, in adherence with the time limit for the competition. In addition to using innovative ideas in the presentation of meals, under the supervision of a professional chef and a nutritionist.
The program also included organizing awareness trips, including a field trip to Ajman City Center “Carrefour”, in cooperation with Emirates Transport, to provide children with information on healthy shopping steps and how to read the food card for selecting healthy products. The closing ceremony was marked by honoring the winners, offering cash prizes to participants presented by Carrefour and in-kind prizes from Apparel Group to all participants.
Promoting Healthy Eating Behaviors Among Children
H.E. Dr. Hussein Abdel Rahman Al-Rand, Undersecretary of the Ministry’s Health Assistant Sector, Health Centers and Clinics, said that “The "Junior Chef" program is part of interactive awareness programs to promote healthy eating patterns and behaviors among children, pointing to MoHAP’s continuous efforts to achieve its strategic goal of promoting awareness of healthy lifestyles to prevent disease by enabling individuals, especially children, to adopt healthy lifestyles
Al-Rand highlighted the importance of healthy programs in improving the results of the national indicator to reduce the rate of children with obesity to 12% according to the objectives of the UAE Vision 2021.
Khawla Al Serkal, Director-General, Sharjah Ladies Club, said: “At Sharjah Ladies Club, we are always keen on bolstering various initiatives related to individuals’ health. This stems from the Club’s objectives to raise the awareness of the ladies and girls about sports and healthy nutrition."
Al Serkal added: “The Junior Chef Program is extremely important, in particular, that the theme of the program “With you for a Balanced Diet” reflects the significance of this aspect. The program is also part of a number of workshops that include healthy cooking tips and contests in an atmosphere full of fun and entertainment.”
“We are proud of supporting such event, as it reflects our keen on the effective participation in different initiatives, especially for adolescents,” added Al Serkal.
Mr. Philippe Peguilhan, Country Manager of Carrefour UAE at Majid Al Futtaim Retail, said: “We are delighted to have supported MoHAP’s initiative aimed at encouraging healthy eating among children. Our cooperation with MoHAP reflects our firm commitment to developing a culture of healthy diet, which is evident in many of our initiatives throughout the year.”
He also added: "We would like to thank our partners at Majid Al Futtaim and the Sheraton Hotel, Mall of the Emirates for their support during this initiative and hope that we were able to provide those students with the basic knowledge that will help them to live a healthy life and bring them great moments every day.”
An Outstanding Experience Enhances the Spirit of Challenge
Dr. Fadila Mohamed Sherif, Director of Health Education & Promotion Department, said that the program has yielded positive outcomes the two previous editions, thanks to the great interaction of families and civil society organizations, pointing to the importance of enhancing the cooking skills among young girls, owing to their future role in establishing healthy eating habits away from fast food, which carries many risks to the health of children, adolescents and adults.
She added that the program represents a unique experience to enhance the girls’ cooking skills and to prepare their favorite dishes in an atmosphere of entertainment and fun, as well as the challenge and competition climate to win the “Junior Chef” title.
“Winning the title is conditional upon the use of healthy cooking methods and the utilization of all food groups. This gives the children appropriate physical health to exercise their favorite sports and hobbies,” Sherif added.