‘Children must eat right and exercise daily’
The Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Manager of Nestlé Ghana, Mr Aaron Fenu, has stressed the need for children to eat right and exercise daily.
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As individuals including children, he said it was important that everyone took keen interest in their own well-being.
Mr Fenu made the call at a programme in the Afram Plains District of the Eastern Region to introduce Nestlé’s Healthy Kids Global Programme to schools in the Kwahu South District.He added that “to remain mentally and socially active, we must constantly exercise and eat balanced meals”.
Nearly 2000 pupils in the Kwahu North (Afram Plains) District benefitted from the programme which aimed at improving nutrition, education, dietary and sanitary practices in the schools.
The Nestlé’s Healthy Kids Global Programme is being implemented in partnership with the Ghana Education Service (GES) and the Nutrition and Food Science Department, University of Ghana, Legon.
Mr Fenu said “Nestle as the leading nutrition, health and wellness company,creating nutrition awareness was a key component to help develop the leaders for today and tomorrow”.
He said there were problems of nutritional imbalances in many schools, which could have serious implications for the growth and performance of pupils saying that “the basis of a creative and dynamic brain is physical fitness and healthy living. Let us preserve our health today rather than struggle to control it in future”.
Mr Gabriel Adu, District Director of GES, Kwahu North,urged teachers to actively take part in the implementation of the programme to address the nutritional challenges of the community.
He expressed appreciation to Nestlé for leading the initiative.
Prior to the scale up in the Afram Plains, teachers, physical exercise coordinators, safety and health education programme coordinators from the districts were trained on nutrition education and new methodologies of making physical activity and nutrition education interactive and fun for the children.
The participating schools were; Donkorkrom St Michael Primary, Ekye Amanfrom Anglican Primary, Ntonaboma R/C Primary, Samanhyia Presby Primary and Bruben D/A Primary.
The programme was launched in 2011 and piloted in Agona East and Juaboso districts and is currently being scaled up in the Adansi South and North, Savelugu Nanton districts and the Afram Plains and it has covered more than 10,000 pupils including the University of Ghana Basic School as the model school in Ghana.
