Daily CSR
Daily CSR

Daily CSR
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Nestlé Contributes To A ‘Healthier Future’ By ‘Helping Children Eat And Drink Better’



11/13/2017

Malnutrition is a threat to the health of humanity, as it cripples the future generation in their childhood. Therefore, Nestlé has dedicated itself for around fifty years to help the world tackle the issue. While, the company is also well aware that the battle cannot be won alone.


Dailycsr.com – 13 November 2017 – On one side, around eight hundred million people suffer from malnutrition in the world today, and on the other side over two billion people are the victims of obesity. No matter in what form but malnutrition poses “significant threats to human health”.
 
Particularly children fall prey to the targets of malnutrition. As per statistics, in the year of 2016, more than “41 million” children below the “age of five”, while more than “340 million children and adolescents” between the age of five to nineteen were found to be “overweight or obese”.
 
Moreover, the last thirty years’ time, the “number of overweight children” from the age of two to five “has doubled”, whereby signalling “a crisis in the making” which requires “urgent action by stakeholders from all sectors”.
 
Back from the year of 1867 with the creation of Nestlé’s infant cereal by the founder Henri Nestlé, the company has special attention to the issue on children’s health, whereby Nestlé’s Chavanne Hanson said:
“We believe that by helping children eat and drink better and move more, we will enhance quality of life and contribute to a healthier future.
“Our ambition is to help 50 million children lead healthier lives by 2030. To support this ambition, we have developed initiatives that support parents & caregivers on their journey to raise healthier kids”.
 
The company pours in its “research expertise” to fathom better “nutritional needs and dietary patterns of children” followed by the application this knowledge to bring about a continuous improvement in the “nutritional profile” of its products. From the year of 2014 till 2016, Nestlé has cut down on more than “39’000 tons of sugar, 6’200 tons of saturated fatty acids and 2’700 tons of salt” adding to its “previous reduction of over 13’000 tons”. Furthermore, in 2016, Nestlé delivered “207 billion micronutrient-fortified food servings”.
 
Besides publishing its “annual Nestlé in Society Report” with “a new set of forward looking commitments” that drives Nestlé’s “current and future actions”, the company also held “dedicated nutrition programs for parents and kids”. While, Hanson added:
“Our Nestlé Start Healthy, Stay Healthy program, active in 45 countries, helps mothers to establish healthy eating habits for themselves during pregnancy and breastfeeding, as well as for their children right from the start”.
 
Additionally, Nestlé has developed programmes that support “school teachers, communities and parents of 3 to 12 year old children with educational tools & behavior change solutions”. The said programmes have their strong base on nutritional as well as behavioural science, while they are designed to “encourage the adoption of 6 healthier habits”. Giving an example, Hanson stated:
“…the brand MAGGI, operating in over 150 countries and selling over 180 billion food servings every year has centered its purpose on the goodness of homemade cooking. In addition to continuously improving its portfolio to contain, and encourage the consumption of, simpler and healthier ingredients, MAGGI takes action to inspire families to cook tasty and balanced homemade meals every day”.
 
However, Hanson continues to saying that Nestlé “cannot act alone” as malnutrition is a “complex issue” which is a result of “multiple social, economic and environmental factors”. In order to “tackle it effectively”, says Hanson, “we need a multi-stakeholder approach”.
 
 
 
References:
ethicalperformance.com