From December 4 to 6, together with UN WFP we organized a series of celebrations dedicated to proper nutrition in six schools of the Chui province.
The main idea of the festival was to interest children of primary school age with the topic of proper nutrition, as well as to teach the basic principles of good nutrition and a healthy lifestyle in a fun way.
During the event, a "Healthy Nutrition Brigade" minibus ran between the six schools of the Zhaiyl, Moscow and Ysyk-Ata districts. The team consisting of Captain Nutrition and his assistants Vitamins introduced children to the concept of a balanced diet and the main vitamins that are useful for their growing body. They also helped children master six "superpowers". With those "superpowers" they can fight diseases, grow and develop correctly, study well, and achieve success in sports.
Interactive games about healthy eating were held in the format of an entertaining quest. At each stage of the quest — game stations — the guys got acquainted with a certain "superpower": to follow the daily regimen, distinguish between harmful and wholesome foods, choose products that are valuable to them, wash their hands properly and cook healthy and tasty snacks on their own. The quest will become a kind of "brochure" for the easy acquisition of the basic rules and principles of good nutrition.
The idea of organising healthy nutrition events in Kyrgyzstan's schools came when we together with UN WFP, with the support of the Bishkek City Hall and the Ministry of Education, held a Healthy Nutrition Week in one of the schools in Bishkek, and then expanded and held the country's first Healthy Nutrition Festival.
The celebration of healthy eating will not be a single event — schools will be able to use this methodology to conduct additional healthy nutrition lessons in order to captivate children with the topic of proper nutrition and make them want to follow its basic principles.
The event is held as part of a project to optimize school meals in the Kyrgyz Republic, thanks to which about 200,000 young students in almost 640 pilot schools receive hot meals.
The school meals programme in Kyrgyzstan has been implemented by the WFP with technical support from SIFI since 2010. The success of the project, broad support from the authorities, the public and donors allows us to build optimistic and very real plans — by 2022 to introduce hot meals in all schools of the country.