Include NCDs and healthy living in PE classes in school – Dr Qereqeretabua and Dr Ahmed

The General Surgeon at the CWM Hospital, Doctor Timoci Qereqeretabua and the Principal Medical Officer at the National Diabetes Centre, Doctor Momtaz Ahmed agree that proper knowledge-based sharing regarding NCDs and healthy living should start at the school level.

While sharing their thoughts during fijivillage Straight Talk with Vijay Narayan on having proper physical education classes in primary and secondary schools that can eliminate the problem of diabetes in the country, Dr Qereqeretabua says this needs to start at the grassroots level, and it needs to start with children.

He says the children’s mindset needs to change as children cannot think and decide on their own when choosing fizzy drinks from water.

Doctor Momtaz Ahmed says they have been discussing that they want to include NCDs in the school’s health curriculum so students have primary knowledge of what NCDs or diabetes is and how to prevent it.

He says the National Diabetes Centre has a school health team that does school visits, where they teach students what food is good for them, what are healthy foods, and how to prevent these diseases.