The Healthy Nutrition Month is a series of educational initiatives aimed at teaching children in grades 2-4 the basic principles of healthy eating and taking care of their health. Under the pilot project, it is planned to reach more than 700 primary school students who are part of the WFP School Meals Optimization Programme.
During the month primary school teachers will conduct exciting classes “School of Cheerful Cooks”, based on specially developed materials. Children will be taught the benefits of a healthy, balanced diet for their growing body, and introduced to the main nutrients and foods in which they are contained. The campaign also includes weekly culinary master classes with the preparation of simple healthy and tasty dishes, school performances on the topic of healthy eating and fun interactive games to consolidate the knowledge gained.
It is expected that the Healthy Nutrition Month will help to form kids' interest and desire to lead a healthy lifestyle, to choose foods and healthy for their diet dishes, and from childhood to lay the foundation for correct eating behavior throughout their subsequent life.
The initiative is timed to coincide with International School Meals Day, which is celebrated around the world on 11 March. The main idea of the holiday is to raise awareness of the population about the importance of the quality of food for schoolchildren. Healthy nutrition during a child's stay at school, as well as at home, is one of the prerequisites for maintaining his health and ability to learn successfully. Children get every chance for a quality education, successful future and good health.
Healthy Nutrition Month is one of the initiatives of the WFP School Meals Optimization Programme. Under the Programme high-quality hot meals are received by about 200 thousand primary school students from more than 700 schools in Kyrgyzstan. By 2022, WFP and the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic plans to introduce hot meals in all schools in the country, which should be facilitated by the law on school meals adopted in 2019.