São Paulo Adopts Nestlé's Healthy Kids Program, Educating the Children of Brazil About Health and Nutrition

04 Jul 2016 --- Hundreds of thousands of children in São Paulo will benefit from the city’s first Nutrition and Food Security Plan, providing them with an important education about nutrition, healthy eating and active lifestyles.

The Nutrition and Food Security Plan, which incorporates the Nestlé Healthy Kids Program, is the first of its kind, and aims to educate school children on the importance of a balanced and healthy lifestyle.

“The program’s main objective is to improve teacher’s knowledge about healthy eating habits so they can teach students and help kids to have a healthier lifestyle,” Philippe Aeschlimann, Corporate Communications at Nestle Brasil tells NutritionInsight.

“Moreover, the program supports school cooks with trainings to improve healthy meals. The KPIs are to increase the number of teachers trained, students impacted and quality of activities with kids developed. In 2015, more than 2000 teacher and 450 cooks of 640 schools were trained in São Paulo.”

Nestlé, who claim its Healthy Kids Program has reached 8 million children in 80 countries worldwide, employs expert teams to develop educational materials and curricula to meet the specific needs of the communities they are working in.

“Every year, we have a meeting with the education authorities to understand their needs and, consequently, to adapt the program’s content regarding the main difficulties,” explains Aeschlimann. “For example, supporting cooks to prepare healthy foods like vegetables, fruits and fish in a way children enjoy it, as well as helping teachers to develop physical activities even if they don’t have the adequate equipment.”

Aeschlimann adds: “Together with the support of São Paulo’s education authorities, the long-term goal is to rise healthier meals, nutritional education and physical activities at the over 3500 schools of all levels, including daycare and training centres, and reach out to as many of the 25100 teachers.”

With rates of obesity increasing in the capital city and throughout Brazil, the program is likely to be welcomed by the São Paulo community.

A study published in 2013 showed that 57% of men in Brazil were either overweight or obese, with projections suggesting this could be as high as 95% by 2050. Females showed a slightly less morbid rate of obesity, with obesity affecting 43% of women, with potentially increasing to 52% in 2050.

by Hannah Gardiner