FUJAIRAH // More than 90 per cent of children aged between 6 and 10 do not exercise regularly, a Fujairah school study has revealed.

The poll of 518 pupils at the all-girls Merashid Elementary School found that only seven per cent exercised regularly, while 93 per cent did not.

It also discovered that 76 per cent of them love eating fast-food and their families allow them, while 31 per cent go to school in the morning without having breakfast.

“We recently made a survey to guide us through the process of helping our students to be more healthy and fit,” said school principal Fatmah Suhail.

“We expected to have such results because it was obvious that the students needed more help from our side and the support for the family’s side.”

In 2012, 70 per cent of the 6-year-old girls at the school had been diagnosed with anaemia, a blood condition that can lead to lethargy, shortness of breath, heart palpitations and a pale complexion. A specially designed nutritional programme was set up with the help of experts to treat the children.

“When I first joined the school team in 2012, we ran a regular check-ups on first-grade students and found out that 70 per cent of the girls had anaemia,” Ms Suhail said.

“That was shocking news, so we started searching and asking specialists on how we and the girl’s parents can help in increasing the level of haemoglobin in the blood.

“After taking the advice of experts, we decided to provide free fruits and exchange unhealthy food with healthy snacks, to all students, not only for the ones who had anaemia.”

The school is now helping 17 obese children to lose weight by eating healthy food and exercising regularly.

“Forty-five minutes of exercise each day had made the girls look and feel more fit and full of energy, which also had improved their participation and grades in class,” the principal added.

“Parents should not underestimate their child’s weight condition – their role is essential in deterring childhood obesity.”

Mariam Khamees is one of the 17 children being helped by the school and she has lost 5kg in just one month.

“I have had the desire to lose weight since a long time ago but I couldn’t do it by myself,” said the 9-year-old.

“But with the help of my family and school, I managed to lose five kilos in one month, which is an achievement I’m so proud of.

“I run and practice so many exercises at school with my friends; this is what encourages me most, apart from my mother’s encouragement.

“I weigh now 63kg and still need to lose 13 kilos more to reach the right weight for my age.”

Dr Abdullah Al Hajiri, head of the cardiac unit and interventional services at Fujairah Hospital, said: “Suffering from obesity as a child could cause chronic conditions in adults, such as diabetes, hypertension and heart diseases.

“The emergency department receives each month about 40 patients suffering from heart conditions aged 16 and above, which are considered to be a serious issue.

“Many children spend a lot of time being inactive and living an unhealthy lifestyle – these factors affect their health and causes many problems.”

rhaza@thenational.ae