Nutrition quiz aims to promote healthy habits
Competitions involving the nation’s primary and secondary schools are nothing new, dating back at least as far as the heyday of Radio Belize and extending through the Coca-Cola spelling bee and Social Security’s Math Olympiad. In recent years another contest has been gaining popularity, with the distinction of having an international component. News Five’s Marion Ali reports.
Marion Ali, Reporting
From the look of things, you’d think that there was a modelling competition going on today at the Holy Redeemer Parish Hall.
But when the teachers, host, mascot and students were not entertaining themselves between breaks, up on stage, there were three groups of high school students were deeply engaged in the ninth annual A.D.M. Belize Mills Nutrition Quiz District finals. At the end of the four-round battle, Anglican Cathedral College placed third with ninety points, E.P. Yorke came in second with one hundred and fifteen points and San Pedro High School emerged as champions with one hundred and twenty points. For the winning team, the sacrifices paid off.
Risela Rivero, Food & Nutrition Finalist, Belize Dist.
“We really worked hard, I’m proud of my team, so proud. What more I can say?”
Marion Ali
“How many hours you guys put into this?”
Alice Huang, Food & Nutrition Finalist, Belize Dist.
“We’ve been putting for like the past year but we really started a lot, I mean, we stay after classes until the evening and then sometimes we get together on the weekends to prepare for this.”
And preparing for the competition meant not only studying at a local level, since the questions are formulated by regional standards.
Loraine Thompson, Technical Advisor, PAHO
”The regional competition is organised by the Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute which is a part of the Pan American Health Organisation and what we do, we look at the kinds of questions that C.F.N.I. comes up with at the regional competition and then we try to make questions here based on the kinds of questions that they ask. They also provide us with a list of text that we need to give to the students in preparation and so we take the questions from those texts.”
And subscribing to the Caribbean outline is what Thompson believes will give Belize’s national champions a good chance at capturing the regional prize, having been runner up last year.
Loraine Thompson
“After the selection we then try to do individual coaching with the team that is selected to represent Belize at the regional level. The fact that we came in second I think speaks to the level of preparation and I believe that as the time goes by and we prepare our students, we will be able to perhaps come out with a win in the regional competition.”
But winning the competitions and actually putting knowledge into practice are two different matters.
Loraine Thompson
“For the first time since we’ve been running the quiz we did an evaluation. This year we’re doing it in each of the competitions. We have not compiled those results as yet but we ask questions about whether the students felt that they learn things about nutrition. We ask them whether they were putting things into practice and we’re seeing from the preliminary review of the answers that they gave, we are seeing that they are trying to eat healthier, that they’re trying to share the information that they get through the Food and Nutrition Quiz with other family members.”
Alice Huang
“When I see my dad cooking I’m gonna ask him why are you using this oil, use olive oil and then I’d start explaining all these chemicals to him and then he’s like, take it easy, but I do practice them.”
Marion Ali
“So no fry chicken right?”
Alive Huang
“No fry chicken or any fried things.”
Eni Gonzalez, San Pedro High
“We try to eat healthy but we just buy fry chicken or anything. There are some days that you can’t do any better so you just eat it.”
The San Pedro High team was coached by their new principal, Emil Vasquez. They now move on to the Nationals on April eleventh.
Reporting for News Five, Marion Ali.
