'Mind Healing Kids Cooking Class' with Mom

Mokdong Health Center Hosts Kids Cooking Class for Elementary Students with Developmental Disabilities and ADHD and Their Mothers

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] “Mom, I made this. I’ll give it to you.”

Hyeongjun (pseudonym), who is offering his mom a colorful cupbap, has a face full of pride. This year’s 8-year-old Hyeongjun was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 5. Usually having difficulty concentrating on anything, Hyeongjun focused on putting rice into a cup and stacking vegetables one by one, eventually completing a rainbow cupbap all by himself. His mother, Ms. Kim ○○ (resident of Mok 4-dong), feels very proud of him.

Yangcheon-gu (District Mayor Kim Soo-young) Mokdong Health Center operated the “Mind Healing Kids Cooking Class for ADHD Children and Their Mothers” program in cooperation with the Mental Health Center from August 5 to 26.

This program, run by Yangcheon-gu, consisted of four cooking practice sessions, each lasting 2 hours once a week, with four different recipes. Five teams of elementary school students and their parents, recommended by the Mental Health Center, participated.

The Mind Healing Kids Cooking Class for ADHD Children and Their Mothers is a program where children with ADHD and developmental disabilities and their mothers experience the entire cooking process together?from preparing ingredients, cutting vegetables, stir-frying, to washing dishes?finding healing along the way. The first session featured rainbow cupbap and yuzu ade; the second session, chicken sandwiches and strawberry milk; the third session, royal tteokbokki and tomato juice; and the final fourth session, tortilla pizza and omija fruit punch.

Resident Ms. Park ○○ (resident of Mok 4-dong), who participated in the program, said, “Due to COVID-19, we were stressed from staying home for a long time, so when I heard that Mokdong Health Center was running a cooking program for kids, I decided to join. I didn’t have high expectations, thinking it might just be a change of pace, but seeing my child concentrate for a long time on cooking and feel a sense of accomplishment made me glad I participated.”

The district expected that through this program, children would not only gain a sense of achievement by doing things on their own but also benefit from nutrition teachers’ theoretical education to develop proper eating habits and hygiene routines such as handwashing. Moreover, handling various ingredients helped children develop their senses of touch and color, and communicating with their guardians provided emotional stability, resulting in very high satisfaction among participants.

Additionally, in preparation for the recent increase in COVID-19 infections, the event was conducted with a minimum number of participants while adhering to quarantine guidelines such as temperature checks and hand sanitization. The program will continue to be planned while monitoring the spread of infections.

Kim Soo-young, Mayor of Yangcheon-gu, emphasized, “The role of health centers has shifted from focusing on infectious disease prevention and treatment in the past to emphasizing lifestyle health promotion such as nutrition management and mental health projects today. Since a healthy life is also part of welfare, we will strive to plan various programs themed around ‘health’ and ‘healing’ so that residents can participate in their daily lives.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.