On March 28, in Armenia, WFP together with SIFI carried out a seminar-meeting for school headmasters and teachers in Kotayk marz. Partner organizations presented a concept for a new pilot campaign by WFP to change the eating habits in Armenia. The slogan of the campaign - "Make the most of your day" - was chosen from several proposed ones by the primary school students - the main target audience. One of the young respondents was very happy after reading the slogan: “Is today my day? Today is my birthday?!".
At the seminar, the results of studies on nutrition carried out among the population of Armenia were analyzed. The most common cause of death in the country is cardiovascular disease. This is because Armenians eat too much salt (in cheese and bread), not enough vegetables and fruits during the off-season (winter), and many neglect the most important meal of the day - breakfast. Meanwhile, breakfast alone can help reduce deaths from cardiovascular disease by 20%!
It was decided to start the campaign with the younger generation. In order to teach children the habit of having breakfast, a series of activities are planned at schools in Kotayk marz: interactive theatrical performances, healthy breakfast trackers, breakfast trailer at school entrance, SIFI developments: "Healthy breakfast for you and me" online marathon for high school students, healthy breakfast home quest for primary school students. All this will help children realize the benefits of breakfast and make it one of the main pleasant and healthy habits.
Teachers play a key role in the successful implementation of the planned activities. They will guide their students, help them assimilate new information. That is why, at the presentation, teachers and headmasters were consulted in detail about their important mission - to help instill correct eating habits in schoolchildren from childhood - and presented all the details of the campaign.