Early nutrition education gains traction

Developed by AUB and built on a behavioral-based educational methodology, Ajyal Salima is designed to enable teachers to integrate its sessions into different classroom subjects.
Palestine has become the fifth in the region to roll out the Nestle Ajyal Salima nutrition education program, part of the global Nestle Healthy Kids Program that is now in 84 countries. 
“We signed a three-year memorandum with Nestle Middle East to implement Nestle Ajyal Salima in Palestine as the program falls in line with our 2015-2019 five-year plan to improve the quality of teaching and learning, as well as students’ nutritional and general health,” said Mohammad Rimawi, director general of school health at the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education. 
The program’s introduction in Palestine began with "Train the Trainers" workshops, designed and delivered by American University of Beirut experts to equip field supervisors from the ministry’s school health department to train teachers to run it successfully in 4th, 5th, and 6th grades. 
Roll out will initially cover 12 public schools over one academic year in the northern, central and southern West Bank, reaching over 1,500 students. 
The move comes as the program continues its steady expansion in Lebanon where it was first launched in 2010, and Jordan, where it’s being introduced to 30 new schools. It is also ongoing in Dubai in collaboration with the Dubai Educational Zone, where it was introduced in 2012, and completed a pilot run in Saudi Arabia in 2014 — so far reaching over 40,000 kids in the Middle East.
“Nestle Ajyal Salima’s launch in Palestine aims to promote healthy eating and physical activity among 9-11 year-old school children there, at an age when they are old enough to grasp its principles and decide to incorporate healthier behaviors into their lives early on,” said Karine Antoniades Turk, creating shared value manager at Nestle Middle East.
Developed by AUB and built on a behavioral-based educational methodology, Ajyal Salima is designed to enable teachers to integrate its sessions into different classroom subjects.

Source: Arab News