UMPSA lecturers take action to raise awareness about the harmful effects of excessive sugar consumption among primary school students

KUANTAN, 15 August 2024 – A total of 175 primary school students from the Kuantan area participated in the Empowering Sugar Awareness: Sweet Kids, Healthy Lives Programme held at Sekolah Kebangsaan Pelindung, Kuantan, recently.

According to Dr. Nor Adila Mhd Omar, a lecturer from the Faculty of Industrial Science and Technology (FSTI) at Universiti Malaysia Pahang Al-Sultan Abdullah (UMPSA) and head of the programme, this initiative is part of the UMPSA Professor Turun Padang (Professors Go to the Ground) Programme in collaboration with the Pahang State Education Department.

"The purpose of the programme is to give students a thorough understanding of the harmful effects of excessive sugar intake and introduce ways to reduce sugar consumption in their daily diets.

"The programme continued with a Sugar Hunt event, where students went through several checkpoints, including the Sweet Crossword Challenge, Sugar Smart Quiz, Zero Sugar Dash, Sugar Experiment, Sweet Pyramid, and Sugar Detective.

"Students were required to complete various tasks related to selecting low-sugar foods, understanding the effects of excessive sugar, and learning how to lead a healthy lifestyle.

"The Sugar Hunt activity concluded with a prize-giving ceremony to reward the winners and encourage students to apply the knowledge they had gained in their daily lives," she said.

Dr. Nor Adila added that, as a follow-up and conclusion to the program, students were given a Candy Calendar.

"They need to record their food intake for a month, which aims to help students monitor and control their daily sugar consumption more effectively.

"This programme offers significant benefits to the students, raising awareness about the importance of healthy eating habits from a young age.

"The positive response and active participation from students and teachers demonstrate that this programme has achieved its objective, instilling a deep awareness of healthy eating habits at an early age," she said.

Dr. Nor Adila hopes that this initiative will serve as a stepping stone towards a healthy lifestyle that the students will continue to practice.

The programme began with a welcome speech from the Principal of Sekolah Kebangsaan Pelindung, Mohd Azhar Yahya, who welcomed the participants and emphasized the importance of the programme in educating students about health.

The entire programme was successfully implemented through the collaboration of FSTI lecturers, including Associate Professor Dr. Mohamad Ashry Jusoh, Dr. Wan Norfazilah Wan Ismail, Dr. Khairiah Mohd Mokhtar, and Dr. Nurul Huda Abu Bakar.

Postgraduate student Nurul Hidayah Abu Bakar, along with seven teachers from Sekolah Kebangsaan Pelindung, led by Senior Assistant for Student Affairs, Zaharila A. Rahman, also played a crucial role as programme facilitators.

By: Dr. Nor Adila Mhd Omar, Faculty of Industrial Science and Technology (FIST)

Translation by: Aminatul Nor Mohamed Said, UMPSA Career Centre (UMPSACC)