The Amazing ‘Makan’ 2012

Our group chose to work on the topic of food choices among young people. We worked with students from the Institute of Technical Education to organise an ‘amazing race’. This was a hands-on and fun activity that also provided participants with information on health and nutrition that is relevant to them. Student participants from ITE ran around Junction 8, Bishan, finding ways of making fast food healthier, comparing supermarket prices for healthy and unhealthy options of snacks they commonly eat, and inventing an appealing but nutritious menu for a picky teenager.

As a group, we saw how adolescents, represented by the ITE student population, can become more receptive to information, even relating to issues that are everyday and commonplace like health and nutrition. The means and methods of presentation can make a difference to how dietary health is received, especially when it takes on personal relevance and incorporates important factors like cost. In the process, we learnt that effecting change in perceptions and accessibility to healthy food across socio-economic groups is a challenge, and will need to be overcome.

Our Reflections

While this activity was well-received and appealing to the audience, it still falls short on the part of internalising and actualising the knowledge. We hope in future there will be opportunities to collaborate with our counterparts in ITE again on how to translate this knowledge to tangible lifestyle habits.