800 kids turn out in Dubai for launch of Al Islami Kids' Club

Cooking demos and dance displays get healthy eating campaign off the ground

Dubai, UAE, October 30, 2016:   More than 800 children attended the birth of a new club designed to promote healthy eating and exercise among 6-12-year-olds in Dubai on Friday. The Al Islami Kids’ Club was launched at the Arabian Center in Al Mizhar by the 14-year-old chef Bella Pearson with cookery demonstrations, competitions and high-energy dance displays led by the Dans studio.

The initiative was created by Al Islami Foods, the Dubai-based halal food company, to help tackle the problems of obesity and diabetes among UAE residents. It follows a report from Dubai Health Authority in July showing that 33% of schoolchildren across 176 private schools are overweight, with 14% to 16% of those classed as obese.

“Those are frightening figures, so we decided to do something to help the next generation take a different path,” said Mr Hamid Badawi, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Al Islami Foods. “Furthermore, 19% of the UAE population is living with diabetes, which is mostly related to rising obesity rates and physical inactivity. The Al Islami Kids’ Club is an attempt to halt that rise.”

Chef Bella has been an ambassador for Al Islami Foods since she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes earlier this year. “I’d always been interested in food and trained as a junior chef at the School of Culinary and Finishing Arts (SCAFA),” she said. “But now I have to really think about everything I eat, and I want to share that thinking with other kids and help them make healthier choices.”

Bella has been leading healthy eating presentations in 15 schools across Dubai and Sharjah, reaching 9,000 pupils so far. She already has an active following on social media, where the Al Islami Kids’ Club has its own Facebook page for recipes, health tips, cookery videos and competitions to get children engaged with the programme.

Alisha Haque, co-owner and Marketing Director of SCAFA, is enthusiastic about the initiative. “SCAFA is delighted to support the Al Islami Kids’ Club,” she said. “There is a real need for someone to take the lead in promoting healthier food choices in the UAE, especially among children, and the Al Islami Kids’ Club is a great way of getting the message across.”

The club aims to encourage good eating habits by making the preparation of healthy food a fun activity for children and an easy option for parents. This is supported by the findings of the American Society of Nutrition that children are more likely to eat foods that are familiar to them, that coercive parents can have a negative impact on children’s eating habits, and that preparing meals at home is a good way to ensure healthy eating.