Nestlé Pakistan marked imparting nutrition education to 50,000 children, through partnership with three school systems, by celebrating the Annual Nestlé Healthy Kids (NHK) Day.
The Day’s activities included tableaus by students from partner schools - CARE Foundation, Silver Oaks and The Trust for Education of Deserving Students (TEDDS) – an art exhibition and quiz and speech competitions. All activities showcased the children’s knowledge about nutrition, healthy eating and an active lifestyle.
The NHK programme is a global initiative taken up by Nestlé, the world’s leading Nutrition, Health and Wellness (NHW) Company, with a pledge to introduce healthy lifestyle lessons covering all aspects of healthy eating, nutrition, hygiene and physical activity. The curriculum-based programme is for students from age 6 to 16. As many as 120 teachers and 100 parents have been trained about nutrition and the importance of physical activity as part of the programme.
Pakistan is one of the three countries where half of the world’s malnourished children live. According to the National Nutrition Survey 2011, stunting and malnutrition is widely prevalent in Pakistan. These are caused by a combination of dietary deficiencies and poor nutrition.
Nestlé Pakistan’s Managing Director Magdi Batato said, "We realised that as nutrition experts, we could play our part. Our ambition is to continue by doubling the number of students and taking the programme to other provinces. We want to be a part of the future of Pakistan and provide a better tomorrow to as many Pakistanis as possible. We have launched the NHK website recently. Children, parents and teachers can now access information that has been presented in a very reader-friendly format."
Seema Aziz, Managing Trustee, CARE Foundation said that undernourishment is a huge problem. "The opportunity to make things better, within the resources available, was a great idea. When put into practice, the results were way better than we had expected."
Hassan Sattar, Managing Director, Silver Oaks, Rawalpindi, said, "Health usually takes a backseat and it is great that we are now doing something to address that."
Saira Tahir, a Trustee at TEDDS, said "The great thing is that the programme has been developed keeping in view the local environment and food."
About Nestlé Pakistan
Nestlé Pakistan is the leading NHW Company in Pakistan and believes in creating shared value for the communities in which it operates with a focus on Nutrition, Water and Rural Development. Nestlé Pakistan works with more than 190,000 dairy farmers and engages in a number of rural development programs for community development.
For further information, please contact:
Aatekah Mir-Khan, Corporate Media Relations Manager, Nestlé Pakistan
Phone: 042-35988119
Email: [email protected]
Farah Asim, Account Director, Nestlé Pakistan
Cell: 0345-2022060
Email: [email protected]