Helping children live healthier lives
Children’s health: the hard facts
According to latest research, 52 million children under the age of five are wasted*, 17 million are severely wasted. There are also 155 million children who are stunted**, and 41 million who are overweight or obese. To help us overcome this global challenge, it’s important for children to follow a healthy diet from a young age.
*wasted - low weight for height
**stunted - a low height for age
How Nestlé is improving children’s health
To help tackle global public health issues and cater to consumer preferences, we are launching more nutritious foods and beverages, simplifying ingredient lists and removing artificial colors. We use micronutrient fortification to help address health challenges where relevant and use biofortified crops where appropriate in our foods and beverages. We are also further decreasing sugars, sodium and saturated fat, and increasing vegetables and wholegrains in our products.
Our expert says
Our research is making an important contribution to understanding how to provide the right nutrition at every stage of childhood. It will also help us to develop more personalized nutrition solutions for children with metabolic conditions. These solutions are often the best way to optimize healthy growth.Using this knowledge to decipher what is crucial for healthy growth supports Nestlé’s 2030 ambition to help 50 million children lead healthier lives. It’s just one of the ways we at Nestlé are enhancing quality of life and contributing to a healthier future.François-Pierre Martin, Researcher in Nutrition and Metabolism, Nestlé Institute of Health Sciences
Parents and caregivers: you can help inspire healthier lives
One of the best ways for children to learn how to lead healthy lives is through you.
Start teaching these lessons when they are young to help them make healthy choices and develop healthy habits:
- Cooking healthy, balanced meals
- Encouraging healthy hydration
- Encouraging children to exercise
When it comes to improving children’s health, we can’t do it alone
It’s a global problem that requires parents, caregivers, health professionals and the food industry to work together. So what will you do?
