Lanaman's reaping rewards
Published:Tuesday | March 24, 2015 | 12:19 PMKeisha Hill
LANAMAN'S PREPARATORY School is integrally involved in the Nestlé Healthy Kids Global Programme and has been reaping great rewards since its students have been actively participating in the programme and learning about maintaining healthy lifestyle practices.
Since its introduction to Jamaica just over four years ago, Nestlé's Healthy Kids Global Programme has been aimed at encouraging children to get active and acquire healthy eating habits that can help them to achieve and maintain a healthy body weight.
It also forms part of the company's commitment to improve global nutrition through the promotion of greater awareness, knowledge, and the understanding of healthy eating and physical activity and their impact on health.
According to Trudy Hardy, principal of Lannaman's Preparatory, since the exception of the Nestlé Healthy Kids programme, the information gleaned by the students has helped them to understand the importance of being healthy by integrating all aspects of wellness.
This nutrition education programme is also designed to ensure that, while promoting changes in the eating habits of students, teachers and tutors are also educated about the nutritional values that contribute to a healthy lifestyle, thus helping to prevent malnutrition and obesity in children and adolescents.
"Students and teachers alike have adopted healthy lifestyle practices, including preparation of healthy breakfasts and juices. By extension, the school has embarked on a healthy-breakfast programme where we have cooked meals that include callaloo and bananas. They are aware of what a balanced meal should entail and what being healthy is all about," Hardy said.
integrated into lessons
Grade-two teachers at the institution, Joy Sykers and Chernet McLaren, said the modules and topics in the books provided by Nestlé for the programme are integrated into their teaching lessons. "Our theme for last term was keeping our bodies healthy by incorporating exercise. The book served as re-enforcement for the lessons that we teach and also brings out the concept in a fun and exciting way," they said.
The Nestlé Healthy Kids Global Programme was launched in 2009 and at the end of 2014, working with close to 300 partners they have delivered their Healthy Kids Global Programme in 73 countries. Their efforts also reached 7.6 million children in 2014 and the company is committed to further expand the Nestlé Healthy Kids Global Programme to reach 80 countries by yearend.
According to Shawna Kidd, corporate communications manager at Nestlé Jamaica, reaching out to children at an early age will provide the opportunity to shape positive attitudes and behaviours. "We are helping our students to develop positive habits that will remain with them for a lifetime. The Nestlé Healthy Kids Programme, endorsed by the Ministry of Education, has impacted the lives of more than 5,000 students in Jamaica. The ... objective is to strengthen the reach of the programme to positively affect the lives of many more children across communities," Kidd said.