CBSE's new 'Oil Board' regulation is a move to stop the rising tide of student obesity and promote better living

In a ruling that places students' well-being at the forefront of school life, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) issued a new circular asking all its affiliated schools to introduce "Oil Boards" as a standing reminder to promote improved food habits. "Oil Boards" are pictorial reminders such as posters or digital boards in public spaces reminding one to avoid excessive intake of fatty oils and fats.

 

The release on July 15, 2025, comes as a natural follow-up to CBSE's last "Sugar Boards" campaign, emphasizing its belief in preventive health in the form of awareness and student behavioral change.

 

With an increasing issue of obesity in India, especially among adolescents and children, at the center of the campaign. According to data from NFHS-5 (2019–21), one out of every five urban Indian adults is overweight or obese. Even more ominous, a new study published in The Lancet puts the percentage of overweight and obese Indian adults by 2050 at twice the current level. Lifestyle diseases used to be a problem only among adults but are now increasingly becoming young people and adolescents because of high-fat and high-sugar foods and the lack of exercise.

 

Schools need to step forward

This, CBSE is inviting schools to make the children stakeholders of their own health process. Schools now face the challenge of:

 

• Placing "Oil Boards" in cafeterias, corridors, and common rooms to make the children talk about the impact of high-fat food.

 

• Designing health-conscious messages on school diaries, notebooks, and folders, reminding the children daily to re-think their activity and food routine.

 

• Expand on-campus access to improved dietary choices in the form of whole fruits and vegetables and low-fat items, while minimizing sales of packaged foods and sweets simultaneously.

 

• Encourage physical activity through "movement breaks," encouraging stairway use, and creating walkways throughout school properties.

 

Importantly, the campaign calls upon students to become creators, not consumers. Schools are invited to include Oil Board design as part of school activity so that students can do research, brainstorm and produce health communication materials, an exercise in life skills and imagination.

 

The circular also requests schools to tackle pertinent educational content available on the official YouTube channel of FSSAI. Schools may also contact FSSAI on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for information or resources.

 

This program is an expression of growing acknowledgment that the classroom can no longer be isolated from the larger matters of student way of life and well-being. Through visual reminders, same-peer interaction, and school-level interaction, CBSE seeks to instill habits among students that go beyond the classroom and pervade the wellness structures.

 

For the stressed-out study generation, digital fatigue, and changing food habits, the decision by CBSE is an eye-opener that learning to make healthier decisions is as crucial as learning to solve a math problem.