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Inspiring Teachers to Help Children Lead Healthier Lifestyles

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Kuala Lumpur
Inspiring Teachers to Help Children Lead Healthier Lifestyles

A teacher’s influence is often said to be eternal, as on a daily basis they touch countless lives and help inspire the future generation so that they may aspire to greatness. With that in mind, Nestlé Malaysia, via its global initiative, the Nestlé Healthy Kids (NHK) Global Programme recently kicked off its Train-the-Trainer Workshop in Kuching, Sarawak.

The workshop was aimed at training teachers on the NHK modules which emphasise the importance of raising nutrition, health and wellness awareness as well as promoting physical activity among school-age children. This is in line with the objective of the overall NHK Programme and is a continuation of Nestlé’s commitment to Creating Shared Value (CSV) for the society in which it operates.

While Nestlé’s nutrition expertise is at the heart of this programme, Nestlé is not an education specialist. Therefore, Nestlé collaborates, designs and implements this programme with the Ministry of Education and the Nutrition Society of Malaysia. The multi-stakeholder approach behind NHK programmes ensures that different sets of expertise are utilised to reach the optimal public health outcome and to ensure the sustainability of these efforts.

The four-day workshop was launched by Tuan Haji Mohamed Yamin bin Haji Mohamed Yusof A.M.N., Deputy Director (Students), School Management Division at the Ministry of Education. In his welcome speech, he said, “The Ministry of Education recognises the value of the private sector in educating our school children on nutrition and the importance of physical activity. We are delighted to be part of this effort by Nestlé that continues to help our educators inspire young Malaysians to develop healthy life-long habits.”

Zainun Nur Abdul Rauf, Executive Director of Group Corporate Affairs, Nestlé Malaysia, said, “We believe that teachers have one of the greatest impacts on children and training teachers on the importance of nutrition, health, wellness and physical activity among school-age children will ultimately ensure that they bring these vital lessons back to the classrooms. The purpose of this workshop was to have a wider reach among school-going children, as we believe one teacher has the potential to impact hundreds, if not thousands of children. What’s more, we hope that the teachers themselves will also be able to benefit directly from the knowledge they have gained.”

Throughout the workshop, 180 teachers and wardens from 77 primary day-boarding schools in Sabah and Sarawak took part in various activities and lectures that were conducted by members of the NHK Expert Committee. These members included prominent health experts from the Nutrition Society of Malaysia such as Professor Dr. Norimah A. Karim, Dr. Zawiah Hashim and Dr. Chin Yit Siew.

Participants were introduced to engaging health topics such as ‘Amalan Tabiat Sihat’, ‘Makan Mengikut Masa’, ‘Jom Aktif’, and ‘Kebersihan Diri’. As the target audience for these sessions would ultimately be school-going children, the topics were kept fun and simple, and the teachers learnt about the most engaging and effective ways to convey pertinent health messages to young children.

According to Sharifah bt Angak, Student Affairs Supervisor of the District Education Office in Kota Marudu, “The Nestlé Healthy Kids Programme was very beneficial for us as we learnt about nutrition, health and wellness. Best of all, it was simple and engaging enough for us to easily share with the students.”

“Nutrition Society of Malaysia is proud to be the partner for the Nestlé Healthy Kids Programme since its launch in Malaysia in 2010. Based on the success and learnings from our initial three-year research phase of the programme, the educational modules developed are now being rolled out to more schools in the country. We hope that this set of teaching modules will have a positive impact and pave the way to a healthier nation,” said Dr. Tee E Siong, Chairman of the NHK Expert Committee and President of the Nutrition Society of Malaysia.

“It is our hope that this collaboration with Nestlé and the Ministry of Education has encouraged teachers, and in turn, their students, to develop better nutritional habits and a more active lifestyle,” he added.

In 2010, the first phase of NHK Programme was launched in Malaysia, and was part of the global initiative by Nestlé to implement the Healthy Kids Global Programme in 80 countries by 2015. The Train-the-Trainer Workshop was held as a part of the second phase of the NHK Programme in Malaysia. This phase will run for three years from 2014 to 2016, and the Programme will be implemented in 77 primary day-boarding schools across East Malaysia throughout this period.

The NHK Programme is in line with the fundamentals of Creating Shared Value, Nestlé’s way of doing business. Nestlé believes that in order to create long-term value for the company, it must also create value for the society at the same time.  

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For more information, please contact:

Immy Ooi
Nestlé (Malaysia) Berhad                                          
Tel: (+603) 7965 6729                                   
Email: [email protected]

Michelle Vincent
acorn communications
Tel: (+603) 7958 8348
Email: [email protected]