Sweet No More: CBSE Puts Sugar on Notice

You need not strain your neck to figure out students with protruding bellies among the school children. They are not hidden among their classmates. Rather, their growing numbers have the authorities to sit up and give a serious thought to how to cut their hanging flabs caused by consumption of excess sugar and fat.

The issue of child obesity has become such a big problem that it cannot be left to the care of the parents. As adults themselves suffer from this disease and care a damn about it, children too take it lightly.

Childhood obesity has surged by 244 percent over the past three decades and is apprehended to climb another 121 percent in the next three decades, an article in medical journal Lancet states.

So, the state has had to step into it and bring children to their senses to this growing menace affecting people across the classes. Food menus at home as well as outside have completely changed. Too much of salt, fat and sugar are consumed with no concerns to its devastating effects.

To top it all, sports activities are almost absent from children's routine. More time they spend on mobiles than on their mobility.

Though late, taking a cue from the ‘Sugar Board’ movement started by food influencer Revant Himatsingka, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has woken up to it.

It has issued a circular to all the 24,000 affiliated schools across the country to adopt the ‘Sugar Board’ campaign and take initiatives to make the students aware of the consequences of eating too much sugar.

Over the past decade, there has been a significant increase in Type 2 diabetes among children. This alarming trend is largely attributed to large sugar intake, often due to the easy availability of sugary snacks, beverages and processed foods within school environments, the CBSE circular notes with concerns.

Two years back, Himatsinghka asked schools through a video to launch the ‘Sugar Board’ movement to sensitise the children to the risks of taking excess sugar.

His video was viewed by 2.5 crore people. He also met ICSE and CBSE Boards’ heads to impress upon them the importance of this movement.

In his ‘Do it Yourself (DIY)’ workshops with school children, he asks children to make boards of white paper and paste cans of sugary drinks and soda on it along with packets of the quantity of sugar as well write how many teaspoons of sugar they contain along with each such drink to drive the home point.

To begin with, the CBSE has directed the schools to set up ‘sugar boards’ where information is displayed for educating students about the risks of excessive sugar intake. These boards should provide essential information, including the recommended daily sugar intake, sugar content in commonly consumed foods (unhealthy meals such as junk food, cold drinks etc.), health risks associated with high sugar consumption and healthier dietary alternatives, the circular directs.

It further says the schools should upload on https://shortturlat/E3kKc reports and photographs on the implementation of the recommendations on or before July 15.

“It is a very good initiative. The circular by CBSE is an add on to the initiatives which are already being carried out in the school. Our school have been taking steps in order to raise awareness among students between junk food and healthy food. It is a part of our regular curriculum,” said Ekta Gupta, headmistress at Modern Public School, Delhi

“We conduct such activities where the child understands the difference between junk foods and healthy foods. Whether it is pre-school or class 12^th this topic is given priority. For pre-schoolers we have this activity where the children are asked to put healthy foods in the fridge and junk foods in the dustbin and similar kind of activities are being conducted in day-to-day routine. We also make sure that parents send healthy food in their child’s tiffin box,” she added.

The circular noted with concerns the increase in the number of Type2 among children. Quoting a recent study the circular said that children are consuming sugar far in excess of the recommended quantity of 5 percent of their total calorie intake per day.

It said that children in the group of four to ten take as much as 13 percent of their required calories from sugar and those between 11 and 18 15 percent. Endocrinologists have praised the initiative taken up the CBSE. They say that thousands of children in these age groups become victims of Type2 diabetes due to unchecked consumption of sugary items. The CBSE’s efforts will make them aware of the menace and save them from teenage diabetes.

“I believe this initiative by CBSE is both timely and absolutely necessary. Over the past decade, we’ve seen a disturbing trend: Type 2 diabetes, once a condition of middle age, is now appearing in children and adolescents. One of the major culprits is the excessive consumption of added sugars—often hidden in snacks, soft drinks, and ultra-processed foods that are readily available in school environments,” said Dr Neelesh Kapoor, Director, Advanced Center for Diabetes, Thyroid and Obesity, Noida. 

The CBSE circular came on directions by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) to enforce sugar boards in schools to check sugar consumption so that children’s right to lead a healthy life is protected.

The NCPCR has also suggested that sugar boards should be introduced in all schools.

Though data on Type2 diabetes among children and adolescents are not available in India, it is estimated that 397 per lakh among them have diabetes, behind China with 734 diabetic children per lakh.

The Supreme Court has said on a number of occasions that the right to lead a healthy life is the part of the Fundamental Rights enshrined in our Constitution. 

Several Schools are planning to make changes in their menus to discourage excess sugar consumption.

While the initiative is being appreciated all around, the challenge of influencing parents to reduce their children's sugar intake at home is a tough task which needs broader community efforts. 

Zerodha co-founder Nitin Kamath, a fitness enthusiast, has supported the CBSE move, calling it a move in the right direction. 

“Now to figure out how to get parents to care about it. How to reduce sodas, coffee/tea (majority of it is sugar) malted drinks, chocolates (again mostly sugar) sweets etc,” he said on his X handle.

Foodpharmer, a brand created by Himatsingka, called the CBSE initiative India’s biggest step towards fighting obesity and diabetes.

When 1.5 years ago I started the Sugar Board movement I had no idea it would become a national movement, but I am grateful for taking this up,” he said in his post on LinkedIn. He hoped that more school boards and colleges will adopt this movement to win the war against sugar and make it an all-India movement.