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programs focusing on the health parents on a healthy lifestyle. In the some came up with their own low-
and well-being of children. With first year (2022-23), SMPS decided cost, healthy recipes.
Covid-19 having severe implications to focus on nutrition. Other aspects
on the health and education of of healthy living such as exercise, Abhishek Chavan and Monali
children, Akanksha’s belief in healthy de-addiction and hygiene will be Thopare, social workers at SMPS,
living became even more relevant. tackled in the second year. share that due to the various
interventions and awareness
Making nutrition top priority Engaging with communities, programs, the mindset of parents
In 2022, after schools opened post driving a mindset shift has gradually started shifting.
the COVID-19 pandemic, SMPS The school has adopted innovative “Our objective initially was to get
found that children were showing ways to ensure a healthy diet for children to bring healthy meals in
signs of low immunity. Nearly 80% their students, like introducing the their tiffins. The impact it created
of parents at SMPS are employed as ‘ladoo project’ where several parents was multifold. Not only did parents
sweepers or sanitation workers in of students come together and start to eat the same healthy meals
government/ private hospitals and make ladoos, using nutrient-rich that were cooked for their children
societies. Many of them lost their ingredients. Additionally, the school but it eventually brought a change
jobs during the pandemic, which management committee, which in eating habits within the entire
impacted their purchasing power. comprises parents, does regular community,” says Abhishek.
The lack of proper meals led to many checks of the nutritional value and
children falling ill. taste of mid-day meals provided by With the school’s continued
the Government. The school also efforts, all 103 students that were
To tackle the issue of malnutrition, works closely with the doctors at previously identified under the
public schools in India carry a Indian Council of Medical Research severely malnourished category
mandate to check every child’s (ICMR) for counseling and dietary have now gained a minimum of
weight and height enrolled within suggestions for the underweight 1.5 kilos. The school is regularly
classes I to X, along with providing children. following up with parents and
free of cost mid-day meals. During doctors on the health of these
one such assessment, SMPS “The training given by ICMR helped children.
identified 103 students as severely us understand the concepts of
malnourished, 238 children as healthy and unhealthy food. After “We are now seeing improvement in
underweight, 10 as overweight attending their [ICMR] programs, we the posture and overall health of our
and 6 under obese category among started to follow their diet charts children,” says Sakshi Bhatia, School
their 391 students. These alarming and it has immensely helped my son Leader at SMPS. “Their participation
numbers pushed the school to make whose weight has increased,” says in school activities has increased
nutrition as its number one priority Harsha Solanki, whose two children along with their focus on academics.
for the children. are SMPS students. The WBS recognition win holds
significance as we continue to

Over the years, SMPS has built Another way that the school got address nutritional challenges in our
a deep-rooted connection with children and parents to focus on schools. As we enter into the next
the community. Considering nutrition was by leveraging festivals. phase of our nutrition programs we
the challenges and response to For instance, during Navratri, the are looking forward to identifying
the growing need of nutrition, school came up with ‘nine days, the correlation between student’s
teachers and social workers spent nine recipes’ for the community. The learning outcomes and how the
months talking to parents on the healthy meals, created from these programs have played into their
importance of healthy-eating habits recipes, were to be sent in children’s academic performances.”
such as balanced meals in tiffins tiffins during Navratri. Nearly
and breaking the habit of eating 350 women from the community
junk food every day. The school participated in the nutrition
set a two-year target for educating awareness event by the school while

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