DOHA: Hundreds of children have been inspired to research healthy lifestyles and spread the word among friends through the Sahtak Awalan Poster Competition.
The annual competition is part of Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar’s (WCM-Q) Sahtak Awalan: Your Health First campaign.
This year 33 schools from across Qatar and hundreds of children created around 400 health-related posters.
Faculty and experts from WCM-Q and the Ministry of Health have selected top 10 posters from the nine schools. Of these, the top three schools were Salah Eddeen Al Ayoubi Independent Preparatory School for Boys (first); Al Shahaniya Preparatory Secondary School for Boys (second); and Osama Bin Zaid Independent School for Boys (third). The children who created the best 10 posters received a bicycle each.
The contest aimed at encouraging young people to take responsibility for their learning, understand positive health behaviours and spread knowledge among peers.
Nesreen Al Rifai, Chief Communications Officer, WCM-Q, said the standard of posters and the range of subjects were excellent.
“All these young people have excelled themselves. The creativity and thirst for knowledge are amazing and I would like to congratulate each of them along with their teachers. These are the future leaders of Qatar and now have a deep understanding of how to keep their mind and body fit and healthy,” she said.
Bandar Saeed Al Qahtani, 15, from Salah Eddeen Al Ayoubi Independent Preparatory School for Boys, said the school produced posters on smoking, obesity and the sun’s ultraviolet rays.
The students used marketing techniques to ensure their posters stood out and were read by their classmates. Bandar’s science teacher, Abduljawad Ahmed, said the competition has been a great teaching tool.
Other poster topics included road safety, physical exercise, sugary drinks, traffic accidents, nutrition and vitamin D.
Faleh Zayed and Mohammed Shaban, both 14, of Al Shahaniya Boys School researched road accidents for their poster.
Grade 8 student Ghada Ehab, 13, of Hammad International Development School, created a poster on hidden sugar in food and drink. She said, “Now a lot of people have obesity and diabetes so people have to take care of their health by watching the amount of sugar they eat.
“Sugar is hidden in things like ketchup, fruit juices, biscuits and lots of other things. You have to always check the label to know how much sugar there is.”
The Peninsula
