1. Nutrition Friendly School Initiative Pilot Testing - Indian Experience
Presented by
Swati Parmar
Programmme Manager
HRIDAY-SHAN
New Delhi, India

2. HRIDAY- SHAN Team Involved in Pilot Testing
Dr. K Srinath Reddy, Hony. Executive Director, Eminent Cardiologist & Epidemiologist
Ms. Monika Arora, Director, Social Scientist
Ms. Swati Parmar, Programme Manager, Social Work Professional
Ms. Shalini Bassi, Project Officer, Nutritionist

3. NFSI – Pilot Testing
Sample : 4 schools ( 2 government and 2 private) located in New Delhi, India
Undertaken by HRIDAY- SHAN in collaboration with Department of Nutrition for Health and Development (NHD ) WHO, Geneva
4 schools in New Delhi were selected where Hriday-shan’s health promoting school’s programme was not active.

4. Schools contacted for Pilot Testing
Contacted 7 schools involved in HRIDAY- SHAN’s programs
4 out of 7 schools contacted, gave consent for the pilot test
S.No.
Name of the School
Type of school
Management 1.
Mahaveer Senior Secondary School, GT Karnal Road
Private
(Co-educational School 2.
Arvind Gupta DAV School, Model Town
Private (Co-educational School 3.
Kendriya Vidhalaya No.2, Delhi Cant
Government (Co-educational School
Central Government 4.
Sarvodaya Kanya Vidhalaya
West Patel Nagar
Government (Only Girls School)
Directorate of Education
Delhi has 3 types of schools- Private, Government and Kendriya vidyalayas. Explain the diff between three briefly and why for this project only private schools would have fitted. However all types were selected for piloting

5. Process Undertaken
Briefing meeting with Principals and Teacher coordinators – second week of January ‘07
Selection of CAG members – third week January ’07
Formation of CAG – third week January ’07
Meeting of CAG members – fourth week January ’07
Queries answered by HRIDAY- SHAN members – fourth week ’07
Collection of SAT and Feedback questionnaires from participating schools – second week February ’07
Interaction with teacher coordinators during the visit conducted for collecting SAT and feedback questionnaires – second week February ‘07
Delhi has 3 types of schools- Private, Government and Kendriya vidyalayas. Explain the diff between three briefly and why for this project only private schools would have fitted. Three of the schools contacted refused as – one of the school was busy completing their syllabus; the others had difficulty in including representative from management staff as they do not regularly visit school

6. Feedback from field: Principals/ Teachers
S. No
Name of the school
Feedback 1
Mahaveer Senior Secondary School, GT Karnal Road
No written nutrition policy
Difficulty in CAG formation due to occasional visit of management representatives
No formal structure for health promotion but undertake activities in collaboration with NGOs such as HRIDAY- SHAN
No elaborate program for promoting physical activity in the school 2
Arvind Gupta DAV School, Model Town
Junk food totally banned in the school canteen
School plays a vital role in promoting healthy snacks in the school canteen
Schools prospectus and students diary has guidelines which encourages the students to bring cost effective healthy food in their tiffins
During PTMs resource persons are invited to provide information on healthy diet to parents
Promotion of physical activity only through PT classes and few classes on yoga. Facility of gym available for students

7. Feedback from field: Principals/ Teachers Contd...
S. No
Name of the school
Feedback 3
Kendriya Vidhalaya No.2, Delhi Cant
No written nutrition policy exists
No formal structure that decides health promoting policies in school
Undertake health promotion activities only in collaboration with NGOs like HRIDAY-SHAN
No formal program for promoting physical activity in the school 4
Sarvodaya Kanya Vidhalaya, West Patel Nagar
No formal structure that decide health promoting policies in school
No canteen facility available within school
No elaborate program for promoting physical activity in the school

8. Compiled Feedback of Pilot Testing in Delhi, India
No canteen facility available in government school (Sarvodaya Kanya Vidhalaya, West Patel Nagar)
Private schools have canteens which is contracted to an outside vendor. Menu is decided by the vendors with no role of school authorities
Only one private school (Arvind Gupta DAV School, Model Town) had a role to play in deciding the menu for the canteen
All the schools contacted for piloting faced difficulty in including members from management staff in CAG as their visit to school is occasional
None of the schools could include representative from local health authorities

9. Need for NFSI Programme In India
No written nutritional policy in schools
Most of the schools do not have nutritional friendly school promotion program
Absence of any formal structure to decide health promoting policy in school
No sustainable health educational program in the school curriculum- HRIDAY-SHAN is the only program which aims to influence school, home and community environment
Lack of formal initiative for promoting physical activity –existing irregular physical education classes
Need for Health promotion programmes like HRIDAY- SHAN and a formal structured initiative such as NFSI
Just formulating policies at school level will not bring about behavior change in the students. Health promoting activities at classroom level and at home level will help to enhance nutrition related knowledge among students, teachers and parents so that acceptance of these policies is smooth

10. Suggested Modifications
Formation of Core Action Group (CAG):
CAG should comprise of representatives from school( Principal ,teacher coordinator & student), home (parents), community (member of neighbourhood Resident Welfare Association/ local body) as all the required members for CAG presently mentioned in NFSI do not have regular periodic meetings in most schools at one platform
Schools should be designated as a Nutritional Friendly School on the basis of developing written policies that guide health promotional activities at school, home and community level
Such initiatives in Government schools require partnership with Directorate of Education, Delhi Government
Section on written nutrition policy given in SAT require adaptation to be more country specific

11. About HRIDAY - SHAN

12. HRIDAY* HEALTH RELATED INFORMATION DISSEMINATION AMONGST YOUTH
OBJECTIVES
To enhance the knowledge related to the content areas of HRIDAY educational program
To positively influence attitudes towards health promoting behaviors
To alter practices of students and of their parents towards healthy practices
AREAS OF FOCUS
Diet & Nutrition
Physical Activity
Tobacco Avoidance
Environment
* HRIDAY means ‘Heart’ in most Indian Languages

13. SHAN *(Student Health Action Network) is an offspring of HRIDAY
SHAN was formed as a result of identification of environmental barriers that restricted adoption of learnt knowledge into behaviour.
Intent of establishing SHAN was to address these barriers through health promoting policies, through enabling regulatory and legislative measures that are identified by students.
SHAN is a network of school and college students (14-20 years) of Delhi, whose members meet periodically to discuss health policy issues and articulate their demands for societal measures conducive to sustainable health. It represents the youth advocacy component of HRIDAY.
SHAN network of high school students(14-17 yrs.), forum to promote informed debate on health, discuss future policies & programs related to health issues, voice their demands to policy makers

14. “Debate the Present to Define the Future”
Classes VI-VIII
AT SCHOOL LEVEL
Classes IX-XII
LEARNING TO ACT
LEARNING THE FACT AT
COLLEGE
LEVEL
(3 Years)
HRIDAY
SHAN
HRIDAY SHAN program is presently functional in 300 schools & 10 colleges of Delhi, extended its program to 9 other cities of India through partner NGOs in these cities who were trained to replicate HRIDAY-SHAN model of health promotion.
“Debate the Present to Define the Future”
“Let’s Talk Health”

15. The HRIDAY Concept Education Awareness + Environment Skills/Norms
Activism Ownership
= CHANGE
The HS prog follows the philosophy that education imparted to people makes them aware about various health issues. This awareness needs to be supported by appropriate skills, imparted through SHAN component and health promoting norms are set at school, home and communtiy level. Through this process a sense of ownership is developed amongst youth. Awareness, skills and ownership bring about a positive change in adopting healthy practices and advocating for health promoting govt policies.

16. School- Community Connections: Interactions at the National Level

17. Strategies followed by HRIDAY-SHAN
At school level
Orientation workshop for Teachers
Training workshop for Peer leaders
Teachers Training Manual
Peer leader training Manual
Students Handbook (worksheets)
Student charter on health of our land
Intra and inter school/ college competitions
Students Parliament on Health
Lectures & interactive sessions on health themes by resource persons
Other IEC Material for school: posters, fact sheets, booklets, films, interactive games
At home level
Home Team Material
Post cards
At community level
Peer lead health activism
Health Art by Youth
Community mobilisation
by Youth
Strategies overall aims to influence not just individual’s knowledge and behaviour but also reach out to parents and family environment, aims at promoting health at school level and community level. The intent is to convert youth into advocates for health promotion and have them take ownership of the programme

18. Learning Resource Material
HRIDAY-SHAN’S
Learning Resource Material

19. IEC materials on Diet & Nutrition

20. HEALTH PROMOTING SCHOOL PROGRAMME
Intent: Children learn best in a safe, healthy & cognitively motivating environment

21. OBJECTIVES Enhance health awareness among school/college students
Enable students to take care for themselves and others.
Train them to pursue peer education for health behaviour conformist*
Facilitate students to make responsible and productive decisions
Improve the health of students, school personnel, families and other members of the community through school/college
This project started with classroom activities that provide knowledge, accompanied by home team material that students carried home so that parents can support healthy eating concept at home. The project also included guidelines prepared by HRiDAY-SHAN on how to declare a school to be health promoting so looked at changing canteen policies to influence them to serve healthy foods.
* Only at school level

22. Activities for Health promotion In schools
Balanced Diet
Sensitization of students and parents on healthy diet through classroom activities and Home Team Material.
Poster display on diet and nutrition in classroom and in school/college.
Promotion of healthy snacks in the school canteen*.
Encouraging students to bring cost effective healthy food in their tiffins.
Encouraging students to put healthy food stalls during school fetes and college festivals.
Physical activity
Sensitization of students and parents about importance of being physically fit through classroom activities and Home Team Material*.
Poster display highlighting importance of being physically fit.
Encouraging students to practice some form of physical activity regularly during games period*.
Developing innovative programmes for making physical activity sessions enjoyable to students*.
Encourage students to adopt measures for including different forms of physical activity in their daily living habits.

23. THANK YOU