Anubunn Tantawan School, a kindergarten in Bang Bon district which received the "Anti-Obesity Award" from City Hall takes great pride in its food.
However, visitors will be left bitterly disappointed if they expect to see a variety of food options or stalls for students. No outside food stalls are allowed to open on the school's premises.
The only provision of food in the school comes from a shiny clean kitchen located at the back of the mess hall. Special cooks are assigned in the kitchen to select ingredients and prepare food for students, teachers, and staff members.
Fans of sugary-soda refreshment or even bubble tea milk -- which is a popular beverage among Thai children -- will also be let down since the only two choices of beverages on the menu are milk and water with no ice.
But, since everyone likes to enjoy food that isn't only healthy but also tasty, students are allowed to provide their opinion as to what they like and dislike on the menu.
Building lifelong habits: Anubunn Tantawan prides itself in shaping healthy routines of its young students.
The school's lunch menu is planned on a monthly basis. A teacher, who is equipped with adequate knowledge about nutrition is responsible for planning it. But before including any dishes onto the list, the teacher has to allow each student to have a role in picking the dishes they like.
Akhin Khlangsupahwat, a three-year-old student of the school said that "among all meals, I like spaghetti with red sauce the most". Based on input like this, the chef in the kitchen would be more likely to cook such a meal again.
Six-year-old Thanakrit Siwasuporn agreed that spaghetti with red sauce was his favourite dish on this month's menu too.
Akhin said what made the spaghetti dish so special was the inclusion of carrots, ham, and sweet red sauce, which made the dish very tasty.
Ingnapha Wisetpornlak and Phatthranis Watthanaromchat, both five years old, chose rice with king mackerel as their favourite dish.
"I think it tastes really good and fills me up," Ingnapha said.
"We even like the dish more now after our teacher told us that eating fish will make us smarter," Phatthranis said.
Their rice with king mackerel lunch is served in a stainless steel tray along with "healthy" soup. The lunch comes with slices of apple and drinking water without ice.
"The healthy soup is our pride. It is made of pork bone, carrot, pumpkins, tomatoes and minced pork," said Niyana Khanonwech, director of the school.
Anubunn Tantawan is a privately owned primary school located in Bang Bon, a green district located in the eastern part of the city. It currently has 270 students enrolled from kindergarten to the elementary level.
The school treats its lunch as an important part of its efforts to promote health, she said. Besides healthy food, the school has also been promoting outdoor activities and sport. The school has a large-sized playground and a 24-metre swimming pool.
For planning the monthly menu, the teacher assigned to this responsibility will ask each student for their opinion, and let them pick their favourite dishes, Ms Niyana said.
"Because the teachers, school staff and students here eat meals from the same menu for lunch, we help each other choose what dishes we would like to be on the menu for each day," she said.
"We ensure that every dish on the lunch menu will have all the five essential nutrients and taste good," she said. "The cooking ingredients we buy are well-selected and we are willing to pay a higher price to guarantee the quality of the ingredients."
Carrots, the most common ingredient is imported from Australia, and meat is bought from a supermarket in which the school is confident of maintaining a good hygienic standard. Vegetables and fruits are supplied daily by local gardens and orchards in the same neighbourhood, she said.
The role of parents in fostering good habits among their children to make healthy food choices is also important.
"We encourage parents of our students to advise their kids to avoid unhealthy foods they see in advertisements as much as possible. Furthermore, parents are urged to avoid giving their children other food, snacks, or drinks to bring to the school," she said.
At school, students are taught how unhealthy food and beverages could harm their health, she said.
For example, a soft drink was poured into a glass in front of students and some coins were then dropped into the glass and left for a few days before the students were again asked to take a look at how much the drink had scoured the coins.
"We are not telling students what to do, but trying to guide them to think more critically as to what is good or bad for their health," she said.
In the case of unhealthy snacks, teachers asked students questions to help them better understand why they shouldn't eat them, she said.
Anti-obesity winner: Anubunn Tantawan School, a kindergarten in Bang Bon district, is one among 21 schools that received an award from City Hall for providing healthy food to its students.
An example question includes asking students if they feel thirsty after eating unhealthy snacks and when they say yes, the teacher provides them with more information about the presence of monosodium glutamate in those snacks and how such artificial additions can harm their health.
Ms Niyana who has been working as the director of the school for the past 20 years said she felt lucky to work for a school that doesn't focus only on profit-making but also cares about improving the quality of life of its students.
"We believe the school is their [students'] second home, so we treat them as if they were our own children," she said.
Somchai Teetipsatit, director of Health Promotion Division at Health Department under the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) said City Hall has monitored diets in 643 schools located in Bangkok and found that obesity is on the rise.
The percentage of obese children in city schools has steadily risen from 13.37% in 2015, to 14.06% in 2016, and 15.05% last year.
To promote a healthy lifestyle, the BMA created "Anti-Obesity Prizes" for the first time this year. The award is not a competition and the prizes are only given as recognition to schools and district offices that provide and encourage people to consume healthy foods, he said.
Recipients of Anti-Obesity awards hail from 21 places. In first rank are four recipients, the Mathayom Wat Singh School, Ban Khoonprathet School, Nong Chok district, and Anubunn Tantawan School.
The second place awards went to Wat Inthrram School, Joan of Arc School and Sri Eiam Anusron School and Dusit district.
Finally, recipients of third place trophies were Thung Mahamek School, St Theresa School, Bhoomsamit School, Chinda Suksa School, Roongruang School, Pongploy Anusorn School, Wat Maha Phruttharam School, Wat Bung Bua School, Arvuth Vikasitaram School, Bang Na district, Bang Phlat district, Sathon district and Din Daeng district.
No fizzy drinks: Students, teachers, and staff have the option of milk or water without ice.
Fighting fit: Anubunn students learn the ins and outs of martial arts.
Stretching for health: Besides healthy eating, physical training is also necessary to cultivate healthy students at Anubunn Tantawan.
Blooming campus: Anubunn Tantawan School won first place in the anti-obesity competition jointly with three other schools.