Students spend around six-seven hours a day in school. We feel hungry, so we have to eat something while at school. Therefore, to eat and to relax, schools provide half-hour to one hour break. During this break, we eat something to satiate our hunger. What we eat that time is called tiffin. So, even that break for tiffin is famous among students as ‘Tiffin time’.

We have read that health is wealth. Good health is our most precious asset. If we fall sick, we cannot continue our studies and lag behind in class.

Normally our parents give us hygienic and nutritious food, but sometimes we insist on food that does not nourish us properly.

Then the question that now emerges — what should be the ideal items to be included in our tiffin box? The box should contain items that are nutritious, sufficient and fresh. Fruits like orange, apple, banana and others like roti, cheura, pakora, samosa, curry, achar could be ideal items for tiffin.

Attractive ads shown on TV and newspapers try us to get us to have food of less quality. As we study health and nutrition in our course, we should know what is good and what is bad for our body. So instead of falling for attractive ads, we should choose good food.

I’d also like to ask — are your hands clean when you open your tiffin box? If they are dirty, then even good food cannot help you to stay healthy. So remember to wash your hands before you sit to enjoy your tiffin.

— Prithu Jyoty Nepal, Class VIII, Kathmandu

University High School, Chaukot