Sahtak Awalan Poster competition inspires hundreds of children to live healthy lives

Hundreds of children have been inspired to research healthy lifestyles, and spread the word among their 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 now judged the 10 top posters from the nine winning schools. Of these the top three were Salah Eddeen Al Ayoubi Independent Preparatory School for Boys who came first, Al Shahaniya Preparatory Secondary School for Boys were in second place, and Osama Bin Zaid Independent School for Boys came third. The children who created the top 10 posters all received a bicycle as a prize.

The aim of the competition was to encourage young people to take responsibility for their own learning, to understand positive health behaviors and to spread that knowledge among their peers.

Nesreen Al-Rifai, Chief Communications Officer at WCM-Q, said the standard of posters and the range of subjects were excellent. She said:

“All of these young people have excelled themselves. The creativity and thirst for knowledge are amazing and I would like to congratulate each and every one of them along with their teachers. These are the future leaders of Qatar and they now have a deep understanding of how to keep their mind and body fit and healthy."

Bandar Saeed Al-Qahtani, 15, from Salah Eddeen Al Ayoubi Independent Preparatory School for Boys, said the school produced a number of posters on the topics of 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 poster competition has been a great teaching tool.

Mr Ahmed said:

“We used the posters as a strategy for teaching science and biology units like healthy food. Some students made posters with the help of their families and the head teacher, Hassan Al Hababi, was very interested in this and encouraged every student to take part.”

Other poster topics included road safety, physical exercise, sugary drinks, traffic accidents, nutrition and vitamin D.

Faleh Zayed (14) and Mohammed Shaban (14), of Al Shahaniya Boys School researched road accidents for their poster. They said:

“There are too many accidents in the country and people are suffering. We want to tell people not to drive fast, to use their seatbelts and to concentrate on driving, not, for example, using their phone.”

Grade 8 student Ghada Ehab, 13, of Hammad International Development School, created a poster about 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 and biscuits and lots of other things. You have to always check the label to know how much sugar there is.”

The names of all the schools who participated in the competition are:
Osama Bin Zaid Independent for Boys; Audio-Complexe Center for Girls; Aman Bint Wahab Independent School for Girls; Audio-Complexe Center for Boys; Ali Bin Ai Taleb Independent Preparatory School for Boys; Salah Eddeen Al Ayoubi Independent Preparatory School for Boys; Hamza Bin Abdel Mouttalib Independent Preparatory School for Boys; Mesaieed Independent Primary Preparatory School for Girls; Khalid Bin Ahmad Al Thani Preparatory Independent School for Boys; Moza Bint Mohammed Preparatory Independent School for Girls; Abou Bakr Saddiq Independent Preparatory School for Boys;
Ghwayriya Independent School for Girls; Al Ahnaf Bin Qais Preparatory Independent School for Boys; Al Karaana Primary Preparatory Independent School for Boys; Zubara Primary Preparatory Independent School for Boys; Rawdat Rashid Primary Preparatory Secondary Independent School for Boys; Abdallah Bin Ali Al Misnad Preparatory Independent School for Boys; Omar Bin Khattab Preparatory Independent School for Boys; Al Razi Preparatory Independent School for Boys; Al Shahaniya Preparatory Secondary School for Boys; Dukhan Independent School for Boys; Khalid Bin Waleed Preparatory Independent School for Boys; Doha Preparatory Independent School for Boys;
English Modern School Doha; English Modern School Al Khor; Qatar Canadian School; Al Hikma International School; International School of Choueifat
German School; Qatar Leadership Academy; Cambridge School for Girls;
Al Hammad International Developed School; Al Jazeera Academy.