As part of Nestlé’s global nutritional awareness initiative, Nestlé for Healthier Kids (N4HK), Nestlé Pakistan inaugurated the N4HK room in Punjab Workers Welfare Fund (PWWF) Higher Secondary Girls School at Sahukimalian, Sheikhupura. N4HK supports, teachers and caregivers on their journey to raise healthier kids through a curriculum-based education program promoting healthy nutrition, hydration, hygiene, and active lifestyle.
This inauguration is part of PWWF and Nestlé Pakistan’s earlier collaboration to launch the N4HK program in 14 schools across Lahore, Sheikhupura, Warbourton, Multan, Kasur, Faisalabad, Layyah, Muzaffargarh and Rawalpindi to promote healthy nutrition by training more than 500 teachers reaching out to 15,000 students till 2024.
Under the multiyear partnership with PWWF, Nestlé implemented the program in six schools in Multan, Lahore, Sheikhupura and Warbourton, training more than 200 teachers on nutrition awareness through expert trainers. In the past, Nestlé Pakistan developed 3 N4HK rooms in partner schools, that provided a way for teachers and educators to reinforce the importance of good nutrition concepts for children.
While inaugurating the N4HK room at the local school, Jason Avanceña, CEO, Nestlé Pakistan thanked PWWF for their support and partnership. “Our association goes back 5 years, we started N4HK training at PWWF Girls School Multan in early 2016 and since then we have jointly worked together to strengthen this partnership with every passing year with more teacher training and development of N4HK room in Lahore and now here in Sahukimalian”, he said.
He also highlighted the need to create awareness about nutrition. “Creating awareness about nutrition and strengthening the narrative around malnutrition is a crucial need in Pakistan as child malnutrition is highly prevalent in the country. Over 40% of children under 5 years of age in Pakistan are stunted, while 18% have high micronutrient deficiency levels”, he added.
Speaking on the occasion, Secretary Labour and Chairman PWWF Faisal Fareed said, “We are honoured to continue the partnership with Nestlé Pakistan and extend the reach of its N4HK initiative to schools across Punjab. We are confident that the awareness imparted on nutrition to teachers will play a very important role in promoting healthy habits and a better nourished future generation.”
The N4HK program is part of Nestlé’s commitment to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3 of Good Health and Well-Being, to ensure that children understand the value of nutrition as they grow older. So far, the program has reached about 320,000 children and 1,750 teachers, in Pakistan.
