The Blue Band Nutrition Education Campaign aimed at promoting healthy living has impacted at least 2 million children across 4,800 schools in Western and Central regions.
The campaign is part of Blue Band’s journey and commitment towards growing healthy and happy kids by
equipping 100 million school going children in Africa and Asia with education on the importance of a
nutritious breakfast.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates that 2million children under the age of five in Kenya
are stunted, the most frequent form of undernutrition.
According to the Ministry of Health, the prevalence of severe Vitamin A deficiency in Kenya stands at 14%
while moderate Vitamin A deficiency stands at 61% among children under 5 years. Vitamin A and mineral deficiencies have been estimated to cost Sub-Saharan countries more than $2.3billion each year in lost productivity.
To address this challenge of undernutrition and informed by the reality that porridge is a top breakfast dish
for African children, Upfield introduced into the market the Blue Band Instant Porridge which is fortified with
10 vitamins and 5minerals that are essential for the healthy growth of children in line with UNICEF standards.
“As a food and nutrition company, we play a pivotal role in people’s everyday lives. We remain committed to
build our business with public health nutrition and well-being in mind. We believe that what goes into our
products can impact people for good which is why we continually analyse and improve the nutritional
content of our products to ensure our consumers can enjoy healthier lives,” said Peter Muchiri, Upfield
Managing Director, East and Southern Africa.
“Poor nutrition in children continues to have long term impacts such as developmental challenges which limit
a child’s potential resulting to poor performance in the classroom, impaired daily health, and well-being. For
instance, Vitamin A deficiency can cause lower immunity and lead to reoccurring diseases. Our products are
fortified with vitamins and minerals in line with UNICEF standards,” he added.
“Western diets continue to be associated with an increased rate of non-communicable diseases and
environmentally unfriendly practices. As a developing market, Africa is susceptible to similar pitfalls, but it is
also ripe with opportunity to do better,” said Tim Verbeek, Upfield Africa, Middle East, and Asia President.
Between 2016 and 2019, the Blue Band School Program Campaign has engaged with 3,990 schools, directly
reaching 2.5 million children and 1.5 million mothers via USSD. Indirectly, our initiative reached 12m million
kids.
In the 2022 program, we have reached 2 million children directly across 4,800 schools in Kenya which
translates to educating 6 million children indirectly.
In keeping with the digital times, we have developed BREAKFAST SQUAD, an online digital game that will
provide kids with an entertaining way to continue learning about the importance of a good breakfast.