Nearly 3 lakh beneficiaries in 22 states impacted through Healthy Kids Programme: Sanjay Khajuria, Nestlé India

Nestlé India is commemorating ten years of its flagship initiative, Nestlé Healthy Kids Programme which has been developed to raise nutrition, health and wellness awareness. Initiated in 2009 in village schools around Nestlé India’s manufacturing facilities, the programme is implemented through a partnership with six regional universities and the NGO Magic Bus India Foundation.

According to Nestlé India, the Healthy Kids programme has impacted lives across Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Karnataka, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, Odisha, Assam, Mizoram and Chhattisgarh.

In an interaction with ETHealthworld, Sanjay Khajuria, Director – Corporate Affairs, Nestlé India, shares the impact created through Nestlé India’s programme over the years.

Q. Why do you think it is crucial to educate adolescents about nutritious and sustainable diets?
Healthy citizens make a nation great and strong. Nutritional awareness and providing need-based nutrition, therefore, are of paramount importance to improve health standards. Adopting a healthy lifestyle during the early years of life ensures healthy living and lesser health issues associated with old age. Therefore, good nutrition is very important due to the biological, psycho-social and cognitive changes that begin during puberty and continue throughout adolescence, directly affecting nutritional status and needs.

Q. How has the Healthy Kids programme catered to these issues?
The Nestlé Healthy Kids Programme has been operational since 2009, in village schools around our 8 factories, with the objective of raising awareness regarding good nutritional practices and cooking methods to enhance the nutritional content of foods and physical fitness.

The programme contributes towards the overall development of beneficiaries as well as encourages a healthier lifestyle in the communities, by arming them with the knowledge that impacts them in a meaningful way.

Q. What are the major achievements of Nestlé Healthy Kids Programme as it completes a decade?
Our Healthy Kids Programme started a decade back and we have continued to scale it with our NGO and university partners year after year. We have positively impacted the lives of nearly 300,000 beneficiaries in 22 states over the last 10 years.

We measure ourselves on not just numbers but also the significance of the impact. From 2015-2018, the program has contributed towards 29% increase in school attendance, 18% increase in hand washing practices, 37% increase in consumption of green vegetables and 18% increase in consumption of fruits at least thrice a week.

Q. Talking about nutritional diet, what are the measures being taken at Nestlé India for its products?
We are constantly striving to increase the nutrient profile of our products. Further, as a signatory to the Eat Right pledge, we will reformulate and reduce sugar, salt and fat in relevant products by 2020. By 2020, we will reduce in our relevant product categories (an average); 6% added sugar, 10% salt, 2.5% total fat.