1.0m students vow to take nutritious foods

As part of social campaign “Bhalo Khabo Bhalo Thakbo (Eat Well and Live Well), 1.0 million students vowed to take nutritious and safe foods to make themselves healthy citizens of the country, says a press release.  

Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), a Swiss-based development organisation, launched the campaign in October 2019 to improve nutritional status among them. 

According to State of Food Security and Nutrition in Bangladesh, 2015, 36 per cent children (aged 10-18 years) in Bangladesh are suffering from malnutrition. According to another report of Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2014, 31 per cent married adolescents (aged 15-19) are victims of malnutrition.

During the campaign to date, teachers raised awareness among the students on the importance of nutritious foods and motivated them to take these foods.

The campaign also encouraged food manufacturers to produce better quality foods and policymakers to generate supportive policies to improve adolescent diets.     

The campaign helped adolescents improve their eating behaviour and prepare them for a better future.

Along with taking oath, screening of video, competition on poster making with the participation of the students was also held.   

Students from 3,000 primary and high schools across the country took part in the campaign. 

One million adolescents have become one big FoodSquad, vowing to lead a better and healthy lifestyle by choosing and eating healthier and safer food options. These adolescents took their pledges either through pledge forms distributed in schools, or through the online form in the campaign’s website, www.bhalokhabobhalothakbo.com.

During this journey, multiple digital platforms were used and several activities, including participation of celebrities, took place to make it a big success.

Celebrities like cricketer Mashrafee Bin Mortaza, MP, young entrepreneur Ayman Sadiq, food blogger Iftekhar Rafsan, and star footballer Jamal Bhuiyan participated in social media platforms.

Due to corona outbreak, the campaign became more online centric and created awareness and informative content for adolescents regarding COVID-19.

Dr Rudaba Khondker, Bangladesh Country Director of GAIN, in a statement congratulated the adolescents for taking the pledge.

“With this milestone reached under the leadership of the government, we will keep working with the partners and the private sector towards enhancing the supply of nutritious and safe food for the adolescents of Bangladesh”, she said.

Funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Netherlands, the campaign is expected to continue.