Healthy eating is often presented as a list of dull, poster-style rules: eat vegetables, drink water, limit sugar. While all of this is true, children understand these ideas far better when they are explained through stories, games, and movement, i.e., through real experiences that allow them to see clearly how food affects their well-being.
This is exactly the approach taken during Healthy Nutrition Week, held in Armenia from March 12 to 17 to mark International School Meals Day. The initiative was organized by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), the Social and Industrial Foodservice Institute (SIFI), and the School Feeding and Child Welfare Agency. The events took place at Ghevond Alishan School No. 27 in Vanadzor, which, for several days, transformed into a lively space where healthy eating was explored in an engaging and interactive way rather than through formal instruction.
The program focused on topics that are part of every child’s daily life: the importance of breakfast, proper hydration, food diversity, and healthy snacks, as well as balancing proteins, fats, and carbohydrates in the daily diet.
Children participated in games, discussed common myths about food, created their own “healthy plates,” prepared snacks together with their parents, and gradually discovered how nutrition is connected not only to health, but also to learning, energy levels, and overall well-being.
Step One: understanding how food shapes your day
The Week began on March 12 with a class session titled Keepers of Health. Higher-grade students acted as guides, introducing primary school children to the world of healthy eating. When learning is supported not only by teachers but also by older students, the conversation immediately feels more relatable and less formal.
This session set the tone for everything that followed. Children were introduced to a simple yet important idea: food directly affects how they feel, how well they can focus on lessons, and how much energy they have throughout the day.
Through clear examples and interactive tasks, children explored why breakfast matters, why staying hydrated is essential, and why sweets cannot replace a balanced meal. The session then evolved into an imaginative game about the Health City, where the colorful variety of foods had mysteriously disappeared from plates. To bring it back, children had to figure out which beliefs about food were true and which were simply myths.
In this way, the conversation about nutrition became a small adventure. This was, perhaps, one of the strongest elements of the entire week: rather than being lectured, children were invited to actively participate.
At the end of the session, each class created its own Student Health Code — a set of simple, practical rules that mark the beginning of a lifelong habit of self-care.
From myths to clarity
The following day, March 13, the program continued with a class session titled The Food Expedition, where children set out to explore the fundamentals of a balanced diet.
A higher-grade student entered the classroom with a “secret message,” telling children that in the Health City, nutritious foods had been mixed up with useless ones, and it was now their mission to restore order. Behind this playful setup was a meaningful objective: to help children understand what a healthy daily diet actually consists of.
During the session, children were introduced to the concept of the Healthy Eating Plate, explored different food groups, and learned to distinguish between foods that provide long-lasting energy and those that offer only a short-term boost. One of the most engaging activities involved a “mixed-up plate,” where healthy foods were combined with sweets and snacks. The children’s task was to sort the items into the correct sections and reassemble the plate themselves. In this way, the idea of balancing proteins, fats, and carbohydrates became not an abstract concept, but a practical task that children could understand and complete on their own.
Importantly, the discussion went beyond a simple “good vs. bad” approach. Children learned why proteins are essential, why the body needs complex carbohydrates, and why fats also play an important role when consumed moderately and in their natural forms.
At the end of the session, each classroom was left with a Guide to Healthy Foods and Healthy Eating Plate, a tangible resource that continued to support learning even after the lesson had ended.
Final that united participants around healthy habits
The Healthy Nutrition Week concluded on March 17 with an interactive celebration titled Health City. Parents joined the children for the event, along with distinguished guests, including Araksia Svajyan, Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia; Arsen Gharibyan, Deputy Governor of Lori Marz; Leila Meliouh, WFP Representative and Country Director in Armenia; Françoise Jacob, UN Resident Coordinator; Sergey Kopyrkin, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Armenia; and Satenik Mkrtchyan, Director of the School Feeding and Child Welfare Agency, as well as representatives of schools participating in the School Feeding Programme.
The event was designed as a series of interactive game stations, where children and adults worked together as teams. In the game titled Myth or Fact?, participants discussed questions such as whether it is okay to skip breakfast, whether a chocolate bar can be considered a healthy school snack, and whether juice can replace water.
Teams then created their own healthy plates, designed dishes suitable for a school day, and explained why their choices were beneficial. Each team was led by a child captain, with parents acting as advisors and higher-grade students providing support. This structure reflected an important idea: the Week was built not only around healthy eating, but also around teamwork.
A special highlight was a masterclass on healthy snacking. Teams prepared simple snack options using wholegrain bread or lavash, adding ingredients such as eggs, cheese, yogurt, vegetables, fruits, herbs, nuts, or seeds. This made the conversation about nutrition practical and relatable, demonstrating how the lessons learned could easily be applied in everyday life, from breakfast at home to school snacks.
The celebration concluded with the Colorful Wave of Health, an energetic flash mob in which children raised cards of different colors to symbolize the diversity and benefits of healthy foods. At the end of the event, each child received a gift and was awarded the honorary title of Keeper of Health.
More than a school meal
The program concluded with a panel discussion titled “School Meals and Their Importance for a Healthy Generation and a Sustainable Society.” Here, the conversation around healthy habits expanded beyond the classroom, highlighting their relevance not only for schools and families, but for the country’s future as a whole.
Opening the discussion, Araksia Svajyan, Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Armenia, congratulated participants on International School Meals Day and expressed her appreciation to all those contributing to the development of the feeding system in Armenian schools. She voiced hope that during the Week, children had not only taken part in activities, but had also gained knowledge and habits that would stay with them for life.
Ms. Svajyan placed particular emphasis on the fact that Armenia’s School Feeding Programme is considered exemplary, notably because it incorporates an agricultural component. According to her, this feature sets it apart from many similar initiatives in other countries. The Programme goes beyond providing hot meals because it also supports the development of new school infrastructure, including greenhouses, intensive orchards, and modern kitchen facilities, which serve as learning environments in their own right. This approach delivers multiple benefits: children are introduced to agriculture, gain practical knowledge related to healthy nutrition, and receive early exposure to potential career pathways.
The Deputy Minister also noted that the next phase of the School Feeding Programme will expand to include schools in Yerevan. In addition, there are ongoing discussions about extending school meals to older students. She shared that two schools have already been selected to pilot the Programme at the middle school level, with final conclusions to be drawn following the pilot phase.
Leila Meliouh, Country Director of the United Nations World Food Programme in Armenia, emphasized that the final event of the Week, the Health City, demonstrated the creativity of students and the strong engagement of the entire school community in shaping a healthier future. As she noted, the habits of healthy and diverse eating developed in childhood form a solid foundation for a strong and healthy generation.
Following the discussion, guests had the opportunity to taste the school meals. A tasting session was organized in the school canteen, where they joined children in sampling dishes prepared according to specialized school recipes.
This captures the true value of such initiatives: not only to talk about healthy habits, but to make them practical, accessible, and part of everyday life. Step by step, conversations about nutrition evolve into a deeper, lasting understanding of food, health, and self-care, one that children carry with them far beyond the classroom.
This is exactly the approach taken during Healthy Nutrition Week, held in Armenia from March 12 to 17 to mark International School Meals Day. The initiative was organized by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), the Social and Industrial Foodservice Institute (SIFI), and the School Feeding and Child Welfare Agency. The events took place at Ghevond Alishan School No. 27 in Vanadzor, which, for several days, transformed into a lively space where healthy eating was explored in an engaging and interactive way rather than through formal instruction.
The program focused on topics that are part of every child’s daily life: the importance of breakfast, proper hydration, food diversity, and healthy snacks, as well as balancing proteins, fats, and carbohydrates in the daily diet.
Children participated in games, discussed common myths about food, created their own “healthy plates,” prepared snacks together with their parents, and gradually discovered how nutrition is connected not only to health, but also to learning, energy levels, and overall well-being.
Step One: understanding how food shapes your day
The Week began on March 12 with a class session titled Keepers of Health. Higher-grade students acted as guides, introducing primary school children to the world of healthy eating. When learning is supported not only by teachers but also by older students, the conversation immediately feels more relatable and less formal.
This session set the tone for everything that followed. Children were introduced to a simple yet important idea: food directly affects how they feel, how well they can focus on lessons, and how much energy they have throughout the day.
Through clear examples and interactive tasks, children explored why breakfast matters, why staying hydrated is essential, and why sweets cannot replace a balanced meal. The session then evolved into an imaginative game about the Health City, where the colorful variety of foods had mysteriously disappeared from plates. To bring it back, children had to figure out which beliefs about food were true and which were simply myths.
In this way, the conversation about nutrition became a small adventure. This was, perhaps, one of the strongest elements of the entire week: rather than being lectured, children were invited to actively participate.
At the end of the session, each class created its own Student Health Code — a set of simple, practical rules that mark the beginning of a lifelong habit of self-care.
From myths to clarity
The following day, March 13, the program continued with a class session titled The Food Expedition, where children set out to explore the fundamentals of a balanced diet.
A higher-grade student entered the classroom with a “secret message,” telling children that in the Health City, nutritious foods had been mixed up with useless ones, and it was now their mission to restore order. Behind this playful setup was a meaningful objective: to help children understand what a healthy daily diet actually consists of.
During the session, children were introduced to the concept of the Healthy Eating Plate, explored different food groups, and learned to distinguish between foods that provide long-lasting energy and those that offer only a short-term boost. One of the most engaging activities involved a “mixed-up plate,” where healthy foods were combined with sweets and snacks. The children’s task was to sort the items into the correct sections and reassemble the plate themselves. In this way, the idea of balancing proteins, fats, and carbohydrates became not an abstract concept, but a practical task that children could understand and complete on their own.
Importantly, the discussion went beyond a simple “good vs. bad” approach. Children learned why proteins are essential, why the body needs complex carbohydrates, and why fats also play an important role when consumed moderately and in their natural forms.
At the end of the session, each classroom was left with a Guide to Healthy Foods and Healthy Eating Plate, a tangible resource that continued to support learning even after the lesson had ended.
Final that united participants around healthy habits
The Healthy Nutrition Week concluded on March 17 with an interactive celebration titled Health City. Parents joined the children for the event, along with distinguished guests, including Araksia Svajyan, Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia; Arsen Gharibyan, Deputy Governor of Lori Marz; Leila Meliouh, WFP Representative and Country Director in Armenia; Françoise Jacob, UN Resident Coordinator; Sergey Kopyrkin, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Armenia; and Satenik Mkrtchyan, Director of the School Feeding and Child Welfare Agency, as well as representatives of schools participating in the School Feeding Programme.
The event was designed as a series of interactive game stations, where children and adults worked together as teams. In the game titled Myth or Fact?, participants discussed questions such as whether it is okay to skip breakfast, whether a chocolate bar can be considered a healthy school snack, and whether juice can replace water.
Teams then created their own healthy plates, designed dishes suitable for a school day, and explained why their choices were beneficial. Each team was led by a child captain, with parents acting as advisors and higher-grade students providing support. This structure reflected an important idea: the Week was built not only around healthy eating, but also around teamwork.
A special highlight was a masterclass on healthy snacking. Teams prepared simple snack options using wholegrain bread or lavash, adding ingredients such as eggs, cheese, yogurt, vegetables, fruits, herbs, nuts, or seeds. This made the conversation about nutrition practical and relatable, demonstrating how the lessons learned could easily be applied in everyday life, from breakfast at home to school snacks.
The celebration concluded with the Colorful Wave of Health, an energetic flash mob in which children raised cards of different colors to symbolize the diversity and benefits of healthy foods. At the end of the event, each child received a gift and was awarded the honorary title of Keeper of Health.
More than a school meal
The program concluded with a panel discussion titled “School Meals and Their Importance for a Healthy Generation and a Sustainable Society.” Here, the conversation around healthy habits expanded beyond the classroom, highlighting their relevance not only for schools and families, but for the country’s future as a whole.
Opening the discussion, Araksia Svajyan, Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Armenia, congratulated participants on International School Meals Day and expressed her appreciation to all those contributing to the development of the feeding system in Armenian schools. She voiced hope that during the Week, children had not only taken part in activities, but had also gained knowledge and habits that would stay with them for life.
Ms. Svajyan placed particular emphasis on the fact that Armenia’s School Feeding Programme is considered exemplary, notably because it incorporates an agricultural component. According to her, this feature sets it apart from many similar initiatives in other countries. The Programme goes beyond providing hot meals because it also supports the development of new school infrastructure, including greenhouses, intensive orchards, and modern kitchen facilities, which serve as learning environments in their own right. This approach delivers multiple benefits: children are introduced to agriculture, gain practical knowledge related to healthy nutrition, and receive early exposure to potential career pathways.
The Deputy Minister also noted that the next phase of the School Feeding Programme will expand to include schools in Yerevan. In addition, there are ongoing discussions about extending school meals to older students. She shared that two schools have already been selected to pilot the Programme at the middle school level, with final conclusions to be drawn following the pilot phase.
Leila Meliouh, Country Director of the United Nations World Food Programme in Armenia, emphasized that the final event of the Week, the Health City, demonstrated the creativity of students and the strong engagement of the entire school community in shaping a healthier future. As she noted, the habits of healthy and diverse eating developed in childhood form a solid foundation for a strong and healthy generation.
Following the discussion, guests had the opportunity to taste the school meals. A tasting session was organized in the school canteen, where they joined children in sampling dishes prepared according to specialized school recipes.
This captures the true value of such initiatives: not only to talk about healthy habits, but to make them practical, accessible, and part of everyday life. Step by step, conversations about nutrition evolve into a deeper, lasting understanding of food, health, and self-care, one that children carry with them far beyond the classroom.