Matters of the Tummy

So, the holidays are almost upon us. Only 2 weeks, sure, but definitely worth it! The exams have been a little stressful (for others more than me) and I think all of us, teachers included, are in need of a good, long break.

Speaking of the holidays. I've never been this organised before. I put all my plans into my phone planner and I realised that I'm definitely fully utilising this holidays. No moping around at home, constantly whining about boredom. My schedule is filling up fast and I'm stoked! I've got some really great stuff lined up like pottery, window shopping, sunway-ing, probably pool and not to mention the camp.

Moving on, I was talking to my father today and he got me thinking about the whole recess situation here in Malaysia. It's appalling. School starts at 7.30am which means students have their breakfast before that, if they have any at all. Then comes recess at 10.30am (or 11am, depending on the age. The younger half 10.30am-10.50am, the older half 10.50am-11am). That's 20 minutes to gobble down whatever horrid food the canteen offers. After that, it's studying time, right up till 1.50pm or 2.30pm (again, depending on the schools). Now, tell me that's not screwed up?

Sure, the government is sticking to the whole four-hours-between-each-meal thing but is this even healthy? Breakfast at the crack of dawn, morning tea (which is usually heavy) at 11am and lunch much later at 2.30pm or sometimes at 3pm+ when the students get home. Isn't breakfast supposed to be around 8am and lunch at around 1pm? It seems to me we're raising a whole generation of children who are prone to gastric. The whole meal system has been turned upside down.

Something should really be done about this. One person alone cannot affect change. We need a whole school or maybe the teachers union to stand up to the government and say "Enough is enough." We cannot continue to let our children be victims to this plan. Change is needed for the betterment of our children's health. Part of the reason children are obese in this country is because we have to wait a good long while for lunch. On top of that, recess is a pitiful 20 minutes. What kind of balanced meal can we eat in 20 minutes, even if the canteens do offer proper food? Students resort to fried foods like nuggets and junk food like various packaged cakes and cookies laden with sugar because we are pressed for time.

So, where do we go from here?

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Anyways, my friend directed me (indirectly) to this blog. I really enjoyed reading it so here's the link. Enjoy!