A kindergarten in China has sparked controversy after it started giving its pupils food based on their weight, according to Chinese media.
Children deemed overweight are given boiled vegetables while those thought to be underweight receive milk and meat.
While most parents support the idea, web users and psychologists say the meal rule could lead some children to feel discriminated.
A kindergarten in China is giving its pupils food based on how much they weigh (file photo)
-
Inside China’s ‘richest village’: The mysterious Socialist…
Dramatic footage shows a group of pedestrians forming a…
Horror as a 6ft tall supermarket locker comes crashing down…
What a jam! Dozens of stranded motorists abandon their…
The rule has been carried out by a kindergarten in Shanghai’s Jiading District, according to a report on People’s Daily Online, citing thepaper.cn.
The school teaches 130 children between the age of three and six at one of China’s most modern cities.
A recent school menu, provided by a parent to the reporter, showed that the rule had been applied on the pupils’ daily supplementary meal which is served between lunch and afternoon snacks.
All pupils’ breakfasts, lunches and afternoon snacks are the same.
According to the menu, designed for the week of November 14-18, each child is given 25 grams of supplementary food.
‘Overweight’ children is given boiled or steamed vegetables every day, ranging from bok choy to pumpkin, while ‘weaker’ children get to drink milk or eat eggs.
On one of the days, November 16, the ‘overweight’ pupils were to be given boiled cabbage while the ‘weaker’ children would dine on meatballs cooked in tomato puree.
The pupils who are deemed overweight are only given vegetables for their supplementary meals. China is seeing more and more overweight children, such as Lu Zhihao (file photo)
Lu Zhihao, who was dubbed the fattest child in China, was pictured in Foshan in 2011
Wang Yaqin, the head of the kindergarten, told a reporter from thepaper.cn that all of the school’s menus followed the advice of dieticians and underwent daily ‘nutritious analysis’.
Ms Wang explained that the meal rule had been implemented out of consideration for the pupils’ health and the children’s weight would be categorised according to the Chinese national standard.
The headmaster also said that the rule was put into practice after most of the pupils’ parents had supported the suggestion during a survey carried out during the previous school holiday.
In China’s ‘National Standard of Growth for Children under the Age of Seven‘, issued by National Health and Planning Commission, a three-year-old boy weighs 14.65kg (32.3 pounds) on average while a three-year-old girl weighs 14.13kg (31.15 pounds) on average.
On the other hand, the average weight for a a six-year-old boy and six-year-old girl are 21.26kg (46.8 pounds) and 20.37kg (44.9 pounds) respectively.
Many parents of the children at the kindergarten appeared to be in favour of the idea, according to thepaper.cn.
A mother, surnamed Fan, said she supported the idea because it could ensure a balanced diet for her child.
Another mother, whose child was deemed overweight, told thepaper.cn that eating vegetables would be helpful for her child.
However, one mother, surnamed Zhang, worried that the categorisation would bring psychological harm to the children. Ms Zhang said the rule would make some children feel they were different from their classmates.
The rule is designed by a school in Shanghai, one of China’s most modern cities (file photo)
Ms Zhang’s concern was shared by many web users, who have left comments on thepaper.cn.
One user said: ‘If there are two pupils out of ten pupils who can’t eat meat, the two children will feel inferior.’
Another user commented: ‘The intention is good, but it’s also important to minimise the psychological impact the rule would bring to children.’
Liu Yeping, the associate professor at the Counseling Center of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, told the paper.cn that it was important for teachers and parents to understand meals in the right way – instead of categorising them.
Ms Liu said the labels of ‘overweight’ or ‘underweight’ could make children feel discriminated and psychologically harmed.