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Building the

food and

nutrition

literacy of

school-age

children ©UNICEF/UN1215075/Panjwani

appropriate education on nutrition, hygiene and health. Wellness Ambassadors’, have been trained in about
175,000 schools nationwide. Half of these ambassadors
More than 320,000 teachers, known as ‘Health In 2019, UNICEF and selected partners provided are women and responsible for promoting nutritious
and Wellness Ambassadors’, have been trained technical support to the National Council of Education diets, healthy lifestyles and disease prevention through

in about 175,000 schools nationwide Research and Training to develop a set of 11 training morning assemblies and classroom activities.
modules to equip schoolteachers with the knowledge
and skills to deliver food, nutrition, health and hygiene The programme is currently reaching 11 million
education. These modules include content to build school children and will be scaled up to all districts of
chools provide a unique setting for delivering decades to tackle the rising prevalence of overweight adolescents’ understanding of a nutritious diet, the the country by 2025. In addition, approximately 50
interventions to school-going children and among adolescents, alongside persistent underweight, importance of avoiding ultra-processed foods and million schoolchildren are being reached with nutrition
adolescents, including education to promote micronutrient deficiencies and anaemia. beverages, how to interpret processed food labels and education on micronutrient-rich diets and weekly iron
healthy diets and build lifelong nutrition the importance of being physically active. and folic acid supplementation.
Sliteracy. The triple burden of malnutrition is addressed through
a package of interventions, including screening and With the support of UNICEF and other partners, the Alongside these efforts, the Government of India is
India is home to more than 250 million adolescents – referral for undernutrition, weekly iron and folic national Government trained the National Resource taking action to improve food environments within and
the largest cohort worldwide – and is at the forefront of acid supplementation, twice-yearly deworming, the Group, a pool of master trainers, to roll out the new around schools: regulations issued in 2020 prohibit the
school-based nutrition programming. The Government provision of fortified foods in school lunches, the modules to public secondary schools nationwide. marketing or sale of unhealthy foods and beverages in
of India has evolved its approaches over the past two provision of safe drinking water in schools, and age- More than 320,000 teachers, known as ‘Health and schools and within 50 metres of school premises.

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