Help Inmed Brasil promote sustainable improvements in children's health and nutritional status, through school-based participatory education and activities on nutrition, healthy lifestyles and gardens. The program will also strengthen family involvement in activities, to improve nutrition and the adoption of healthier life choices and behavior, aiming for cognitive and physical improvement of the children involved.
Currently, more than one in five children in Brazil (22.1%) are obese, and obesity has surpassed malnutrition as the most prevalent nutritional disorder in Brazilian children. In addition, more than half of youth (58%) are sedentary. Particularly in the poorest areas of the country, children lack access to fresh fruits and vegetables and are entitled to meals not always nutritionally balanced due to lack of knowledge or resources.
One nutritious meal a day is not enough and that's why the program focuses on the "multiplier effect" through which health, nutrition and gardening education is shared with students' family members, teachers and school food workers from schools, and with the community as a whole, through civic engagement and collective action for positive change. School and small gardening are also introduced as a means to improve access to fresh foods and strengthen food security.
5,000 students will improve their knowledge on healthy and nutritional habits, becoming agents of change within their families and communities. Children, teachers and community members will learn how to plant and develop small and home gardens, increasing access to fresh produce every day. Over the past 21 years, Inmed has improved the lives of nearly three million children, engaging community members in a process of positive change though a range of development programs.
