Dr. Bassam Nabila, President of the National School Health Association, confirmed in a statement to Al-Khabar that what is noticeable during the exam period, especially the fateful ones, is that a number of students resort to excessive consumption of energy drinks, especially in the vicinity of educational institutions. She explained that prohibiting the consumption of these drinks within educational departments and institutions led some students to consume them outside the school walls, a few minutes before they took the exam. The spokeswoman added that what is worrying about this phenomenon is consuming these drinks on an empty stomach, and without eating breakfast, which may double their negative effects on the health and concentration of students during the examination period.
This came during the activities of the scientific meeting organized by the National Institute of Public Health, in coordination with the National School Health Association, which discussed how to accompany students who are exposed to health problems during the examination period.
The participants stressed the pivotal role that school health plays in such circumstances, through the accompaniment provided by medical teams who rotate through the medical clinics located at the examination center level.
Regarding the most prominent health problems that arise while students take their exams, Dr. Bassam Nabila, President of the National School Health Association, confirmed in a statement to Al-Khabar that they are represented by symptoms related to chronic diseases that some students suffer from, such as diabetes, the complications of which appear in the form of a drop or rise in the blood sugar level, in addition to the appearance of symptoms of shortness of breath in those suffering from asthma.
In addition, psychological injuries are recorded among students, Bassam says, including panic attacks and intellectual blockage, as some examinees enter into a crying fit because they have forgotten the content of the lessons they have reviewed, noting that this intellectual blockage is particularly related to basic subjects such as natural sciences and mathematics, and also affects outstanding students who are keen to obtain excellent grades.
Our interlocutor explains that this type of problem usually occurs with girls in particular, and among the problems that have been observed, says the head of the National School Health Association, is that a number of examinees resort to excessive consumption of energy drinks in order to improve their concentration during exams, the containers of which are thrown in front of the school perimeter.
She added that preventing these students and students from consuming these substances within educational institutions and departments, made them consume them in the vicinity of educational institutions and minutes before they entered to take the exam. Dr. Bassam explained, saying that what is worse is that the consumption of these drinks is done on an empty stomach and without eating breakfast in the morning, which may put the examinee’s health at risk.
She also indicated that the role of the medical clinics, whose attendance is guaranteed at the exam center level, is to take care of the various illness symptoms that the student being examined is exposed to within the institution, with the aim of avoiding his leaving it and avoiding his exclusion from the exam.
