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The College of Food and Agriculture at the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) organized a student exhibition to learn and communicate information about food and public health. It was held in the food court on the female campus. The exhibition aimed to improve the health and nutritional knowledge of university and school students in Al Ain, especially those in the age group ranging from 17 to 25, as this is a very important stage in the development of the human body and the best time to correct erroneous concepts regarding food.

Dr. Nada Nasser, Professor of Nutrition and Health in the College of Food and Agriculture, said that this exhibition served as practice for the 34 students organizing it who were divided between 10 different booths to promote health awareness and nutritional information.

She explained that there were many misconceptions regarding food culture among many of the girls who regularly eat unhealthy food such as fast food and soft drinks. They often do not stick to standard meal times. A point that was confirmed by a simple study that showed that a proportion of students at school and university did not eat breakfast. She emphasized the importance of promoting a healthy food culture and encouraging exercise.

One of the booths (Let’s have breakfast), under the supervision of Mariam Mohammed, Alia Al Mazrouqi and Aisha Al Ghafli, contained health information regarding the effects of not eating breakfast. This influences cognition, mood and activity. Meanwhile, student Mona Al Shanqeeti presented a smart application that included a range of health food information (questions and answers), which has been published on a website designed by the students. Also, Aliya Al Hammadi, Abeer Mohammed and Walaa Abdul-Hamid in the fast food booth presented eating plans and models for both healthy and unhealthy consumption including appropriate fat and carbohydrate percentages at each meal.