Taiwan is offering free breakfast to schoolchildren in Nauru, the head of a Taiwanese technical mission posted in the South Pacific island nation said.
Since the second half of last year, the Taiwanese agricultural mission has worked with Nauru’s education and health ministries to offer free breakfasts to kindergarten and elementary schoolchildren, said Mo Kuo-chung (莫國中), head of the mission.
“The program is aimed at cultivating healthy eating habits among Nauru’s children,” Mo said.
The people of Nauru have traditionally eaten few vegetables because they mainly make their living from fishing. Vegetables grown by Taiwan’s technical mission form a critical part of the free breakfast menus, a program that has not only helped instill an awareness of the importance of healthy eating among young children, but also enhanced attendance at local schools.
Not long ago, attendance was about 30 percent, but has surged to 100 percent with the introduction of the free breakfast program, as many children like the vegetable dishes.
“Nauru used to rely on imports of fresh vegetables. The prices were extremely high, but the quality was not,” Mo said.
Not long after Taiwan’s technical mission began promoting vegetables, produce from local farms became available on the market, but initial sales were sluggish because local residents did not have much of an appetite for greens or know how to cook them.
Because of unhealthy dietary habits, many Nauru nationals are obese, while half of those above the age of 55 suffer from diabetes. The country’s average life expectancy is under 60 years of age. In Nauru, people attach great importance to their 21st and 50th birthdays, the latter symbolizing longevity.
Poor health has inflicted a heavy financial burden on the tiny island nation with a landmass of just 21km².
Taiwan’s technical mission decided to help resolve this issue by first promoting healthy eating among children.
“We wanted to get young children into the habit of eating vegetables in the hope that local adults will gradually follow suit” Mo said.
The technical mission has also worked with the Nauru government to offer low-priced lunches, including vegetables grown by the mission, to high school students and office workers, benefiting about 1,000 people.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese