Title: Christian Hospital in Taiwan Promotes “Healthy Red Envelopes”
Taiwan Church News 2863 8-14 January 2007
Reported by Yu Kao. Written by David Alexander
"Red Envelopes" stuffed with cash are a traditional gift to children for the Chinese New Year. Parents today generally hope to see their children make progress in the areas of academic work and skills. But some unseen things have been known to work against their best wishes. If they are not careful, a neglect to teach children about healthy nutrition can result in their offspring making poor food choices based on what is physically attractive or tasty, and fill themselves up with things that lead to chronic poor health both in childhood and later in life. Chang Hwa Christian Hospital has prepared a “nutrition school” programme for elementary school children and their parents, to run from every afternoon 29 January to 2 February. Parents may accompany their “fee paying” children for free.
Chia Ling-jenn, head of the department of nutrition at Chang Hwa Christian Hospital, notes that popular television and entertainment personalities commonly endorse snack products. Children are attracted to the endorsers and to the flavors of the foods. But these selections may not be the most nutritious. However, apart from these suggestions that come through the TV, they get little guidance on what to eat. The nutrition school is designed to give that guidance. The hospital and its social service foundation have put together a curriculum to accomplish this goal. Cost of attendance for five afternoons of activity is 1,500 Taiwan Yuan (approximately US$48), but a 10% discount will be given to registrants with a body mass index of 19.8 (boys) and 19.2 (girls). Further, those who attend three or more days of the programme will receive a refund of 300 Taiwan Yuan (approximately US$10) and receive a discount on registration for a follow-up programme scheduled for August.
Registrations will be accepted until January 26th by phone to the hospital’s nutrition department (04)723 8595 Extension 3041.
For more information: http://www2.cch.org.tw/cch_english/
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