Healthy eating and its impact on ISY students and the environment.

The food on offer at The International School Yangon (ISY) at both Nourish and Gusto plays a crucial role in students’ overall health, well-being, and academic performance. We want to create a healthy eating culture that promotes nutritious food choices, provides access to balanced meals, and aligns food and nutrition practices with classroom education. Here are a few key points to consider why we are doing this:

One of our Strategic Themes at The International School Yangon is ‘Sustainability’, where students cultivate sustainability through a focus on Service Learning and The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  At ISY we want to be part of the environmental drive to offer students a healthy, nutritious, plant-based diet that contributes towards lower greenhouse gas emissions.  

Proper nutrition is essential for students to thrive academically. Well-nourished students have improved concentration, memory, and cognitive function, allowing them to focus and perform better in the classroom. The promotion of healthy eating at ISY is consistent with the food skills and nutrition education taught in the classroom. When students are exposed to similar messages about nutrition and food choices both inside and outside the classroom, it reinforces their understanding and encourages healthier habits.

By creating a supportive food environment, ISY can help students develop eating competencies, which include skills such as listening to internal hunger and fullness cues, making informed food choices, and practicing mindful eating. These competencies lay the foundation for lifelong healthy eating habits. The food ISY offers fosters positive attitudes towards food and eating. We are actively promoting a variety of nutritious options at Nourish, emphasizing the enjoyment and social aspects of meals, and discouraging unhealthy food marketing within the school premises. 

We are excited to announce that Nourish have created a healthy meal plan for students and a pilot for this will take place at ISY from Monday 21st August. Nourish will be joining Gusto and L’Opera, who serve only vegetarian food, as our food vendors on campus.