10 lakh youngsters pledge to eat healthy

For Proteeti Setu Bibha, an eighth-grader at Nazirul Islam Collegiate School in Kishoreganj's Bajitpur upazila, campaigning for healthy food among adolescents like her was not just any work, it served as a catalyst for ensuring a nutritious diet. 

Just like her, 167 other adolescent students, from different upazilas, started their journey after participating in a three-day national training session organised by Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) Bangladesh in Dhaka in October last year.

GAIN, a Swiss-based development organisation, arranged the event as part of its year-long campaign to improve nutritional status among adolescent students, and spread the word of eating healthy among 10 lakh students in last year.

"I was a fan of street food, but when I talked to students like me during the campaign, I realised how unhealthy they are. Now, I'm used to having homemade food. I, as part of the campaign, visited 37 schools and engaged with nearly 15,000 students in my district," Bibha told The Daily Star recently.

According to State of Food Security and Nutrition in Bangladesh 2015, 36 percent of those aged between 10 and 18 in Bangladesh suffer from malnutrition while Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2014 said 31 percent of married adolescents (aged 15-19) are victims of malnutrition.

During the campaign, teachers raised awareness among students on the importance of nutritious foods and motivated them to eat healthy. The campaign encouraged food manufacturers to produce better quality foods and policymakers to generate supportive policies to improve adolescent diets.

Students from 3,000 primary and high schools across the country were involved in the campaign.

The 10 lakh adolescents vowed to lead a healthy lifestyle by choosing and eating healthier food. These youngsters took their pledge either through forms distributed in schools or in the campaign's website (bhalokhabobhalothakbo.com).

Dr Rudaba Khondker, Bangladesh country director of GAIN, said, "With this milestone reached, we will keep working with partners and the private sector towards enhancing the supply of nutritious and safe food for adolescents of Bangladesh."

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

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