JEDDAH, 1 July 2005 — Saudi and other Arab nutritionists are actively involved in a long-term milk campaign that opened at the Jeddah Science & Technology Center on Wednesday night.
King Abdul Aziz University Vice President Dr. Abdul Rahman Al-Youbi formally inaugurated a five-week exhibition and a seminar organized by Tetra Pak Saudi Arabia.
Themed “Milk...Protecting Your Children’s Growth,” four Arab nutritionists conducted the seminar. They included Dr. Salih Al-Ansari, director general of the Department of School Health (boys) at the Ministry of Education, Dr. Hamad Al-Kanhal, chairman of the Saudi Society for Food and Nutrition, Dr. Abdul Rahman Musaiger, chairman of the Arab Nutrition Society, and Dr. Khalid Al-Madani, general supervisor of the Nutrition Department, Ministry of Health, Makkah. They gave presentations highlighting the role that milk can play in a child’s health.
“Milk provides nutrients for the whole family — from pregnancy and childhood to adulthood and old age. Today, a wider range of quality milk products provide consumers with a variety of choices between various types of enrichment, different fat contents and even several flavors to suit differing tastes,” said Dr. Kanhal. “Milk is one of the most complete foods that can help protect health and meet the nutritional needs as part of a varied diet,” he added.
Dr. Musaiger emphasized that children will need a calcium rich diet in combination with exercises and athletics to enable them reach their full bone strength potential.
Dr. Madani said: “As the rest of your body, your skeleton is a living organism that needs a well-balanced diet to keep it fit and healthy. It needs minerals and vitamins that milk provides. But that’s not all, you still need to undertake physical exercise to keep healthy bones growing and strengthening because they suffer if you don’t. So you should exercise at least three times a week for a minimum of 30 minutes each time.”
Dr. Ansari was critical of the poor consumption of milk among Saudi children and urged parents and families to provide their children with the right kind of nutrition. He also highlighted the achievements during the last five years of the School Milk Educational Program, which was initiated by the Ministry of Education, Department of School Health (Boys) and supported by Tetra Pak in 2001.
“In 2005, the aim is to reach 100 percent of boys’ elementary schools (grade 1 to 3) and reaching 1.2 million students and their families with the “milk message” how milk is protecting their health, Dr. Ansari added.
