Govt survey shows 15K Delhi school students at health risk

A two-year health scheme implemented by the Delhi government in 20 state-run schools as pilot project has revealed that a staggering 69% of the 22,000 students screened in these institutions were in the “red zone” of the Body Mass Index (BMI) — highlighting potential risks pertaining to health and nutrition — officials aware of the matter said on Thursday.

- Ashna Butani

The scheme, called School Health Clinic (SHC), was implemented by the department of health and family welfare and the department of education in January 2022. As part of the pilot project, each of these schools had a nurse and a psychologist, and clinics were set up in porta cabins. In addition, officials said, a trained doctor was assigned to clusters of five schools.

The government now plans to expand the scheme, called School Health Clinic (SHC), to 50 state-run schools across the city in the coming months, with an eye to gradually expand it to cover all Delhi government schools, the officials said.

A health department official said, “After running the pilot project successfully for close to two years, we will be expanding to other schools as well. We aim to cover 50 schools under the project in the coming months and gradually expand to cover all Delhi government schools in the project.”

A perusal of the data released as part of the pilot project on December 7 has revealed that 69% of the students were in the red zone of BMI. This, officials and experts said, was because of an increase in junk food intake and lack of physical activity.