Avoid junk food to stay fit for exams, say experts

Doctors and personality development trainers have been urging youngsters to avoid junk food completely during exams, since they would lead to further stress while writing the examination.

Ahead of Intermediate and Class X examinations, many institutions are conducting special programmes for children to overcome examination-related stress.

Intermediate examinations begin on March 4 and Class X exams start on March 23 in Andhra Pradesh. As many as 1.2 lakh students are appearing for both exams in Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts.

Indian Academy of Paediatrics-AP chapter president D.V. Srikanth suggested to the parents to serve absolute healthy food and make children drink ample water during preparation and exams. “Junk fund leads to many health complications. It is not at all advisable, since junk food may lead to further stress as it can’t ensure required strength which only the healthy food prepared in home can give,” he added.

New lessons

Personality Development Trainer Duppala Ravikumar suggested that students should not concentrate on new lessons since it would not be possible for them to memorise at this crucial juncture. “The students should not worry about a few chapters which are not covered during study. They can leave questions of those chapters in choice,” he added.

Srikakulam Oxford School Director M. Ramesh Babu urged teachers and parents not to force children for ranks and marks. “We must make children face the examinations confidently. More expectations will lead to depression and kill their natural ability,” he says.

Rural students

Meanwhile, a majority of the students from rural areas have been facing examination-related stress with the lack of opportunity for full-fledged preparation in the absence of infrastructure and faculty.

For instance, students of Intermediate courses of Kasturiba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas are reportedly facing exam fear as the government reportedly delayed the appointment of lecturers. They reportedly started classes only in September and October could not cover syllabus completely. Officials of the departments concerned claimed that special classes were conducted for completing the teaching of entire syllabus. However, they agreed that they could not set up laboratories for MPC and BiPC students as Intermediate courses had started only in 2019-20 academic year.