Mondelez International Foundation Brings Better Health to More than One Million Children in Five Countries

03 Jun 2014 --- The Mondelez International Foundation has unveiled plans with its global community partners to bring nutrition education, active play and fresh foods to more than one million children and their families in Australia, Brazil, China, India and Russia as part of its multi-year, $50 million commitment to promote healthy lifestyles and address obesity.

Today’s announcement is in line with Mondelez International's Call For Well-being and will help empower communities to address the needs of some of the more than 30 million overweight children around the world, especially in developing markets.

“We share our partners’ beliefs that helping people – especially children – adopt small habits like making balanced food choices, preparing healthy snacks and moving more can lead to big changes in their well-being and that of their communities,” said Nicole Robinson, President of the Mondelez International Foundation. “We’re working side-by-side with our community partners to arm people with the resources and know-how to make decisions that can lead to a lifetime of good health.”

This March, Mondelez International issued a Call For Well-being to urge its employees, suppliers and community partners to join together to develop new approaches that can have a positive impact on the planet and its people. The Call For Well-being focuses on four key areas where the company can make the greatest impact: mindful snacking, sustainability, community and safety. Today’s commitments answer the call for community initiatives that inspire a dialogue around what it means to live well and what can be done to make well-being a reality for years to come.

The Mondelez International Foundation and its global community partners are working together toward the common goal of fostering environments that allow children and families to adopt lifelong healthy habits. The partnerships announced today expand existing programs in Brazil, China and Russia and pave the way for new efforts in Australia and India. Over the next three years, the Foundation and its partners will inspire schools and communities to reach underserved kids and get involved in the following innovative ways:

• Australia: Football Federation Australia and a leading NGO are combining their expertise to host what will be Australia’s largest healthy lifestyle program benefitting 115,500 children and families across 300 schools. The highly interactive program combines active play and nutrition education empowering children to live a healthy lifestyle. Kids will discover the joy of healthy eating and creative forms of play through physical activity.
• Brazil: INMED Partnerships for Children and Institute for Sports Education (IEE) are teaming up to expand Health in Action. INMED’s nutrition efforts, which include school-based gardens, have improved children’s body mass index and vegetable consumption and have decreased anemia rates. The inclusion of physical activity through IEE will bring fitness to the classroom and the community and train teachers, parents and local leaders to coach sports like volleyball, basketball and soccer. The expansion will benefit 1,000 schools and about 675,000 children, parents and community members.
• China: China Youth Development Foundation will spread the benefits of nutrition and access to fresh foods through Hope Kitchens by reaching 150,000 students in 300 schools. Hope Kitchens offer renovated cooking facilities to primary schools, promote education on food safety and balanced nutritious meals and offer vegetable gardens to put good nutrition with reach for thousands of school children.
• India: Save the Children and Magic Bus are teaming up to promote active play including sports development, nutrition education and growing fresh foods to about 140,000 children and families across India. The program will work alongside parents, educators and community health workers to help improve children’s nutrition and health, encourage sports and play and train youth leaders.
• Russia: Charities Aid Federation’s Be Healthy program teaches students about nutrition, how to grow and prepare healthy foods and ways to get active. Be Healthy ignites students’ interest by inviting schools to compete for grants that equip them with cooking and sports equipment and expects to reach 20,000 students across 45 locations.

“Through Health In Action, we’ve learned that the path to well-being begins by showing children what good health looks like and finding creative ways to help them incorporate it into their lives,” said Joyce Capelli, CEO of INMED Brazil. “The Mondelez International Foundation has given scale to our efforts and, together with IEE, we’re answering the Call For Well-being by inspiring thousands of kids to embrace healthy living, get active and have fun in the process.”

Every community partnership will track progress against a universal set of metrics critical to achieving well-being: physical activity, nutrition education and accessibility to nutritious foods. These metrics were developed in conjunction with community partners and public health experts convened by the Mondelez International Foundation last year in Granada, Spain.