This initiative addresses the need to build children's awareness of nutritional needs for a healthy lifestyle through the elaboration and distribution of nutrition education teaching material. These are designed in a way that encourages an interactive channel of teaching children on the subject of nutrition through game and play. Focused on Nutrition, Health and Wellness, this material is developed by Nestlé Paraguay together with the Tierranuestra Foundation. The project was launched in 2004 and directly benefits 3'000 participants in a number of schools throughout the country each year. In many schools, teachers are also trained on how to make full use of this teaching module prior to its distribution.
Among educational material designed and used since 2004 are recipes, table games and cards. For instance, "Alimentos y algo más" (Food and something more, 2004) is a school game where children play while learning about nutritional elements (vitamins, fat, fiber, etc.) and their characteristics.
In 2005 was developed "Por una alimentación para crecer sanos" : A pedagogic material for teachers called "Looking for a good nutrition to grow healthy". It is a stand alone material that the teacher uses in front of a classroom based on images, questions and answers on Nutrition, Health and Wellness.
In 2006 were designed "Recetas audaces para cocineros capaces", or "Audacious recipes for capable cooks", which includes 2 games and 29 alternative recipes. All recipes are specially developed for the local conditions of the communities where the schools are located.
Those communities have an extremely limited income per capita. Hence our objective was to create recipes that will allow them to spend the same amount of money as they would normally spend, but to prepare a nutritious and different dish.
Furthermore, the ingredients can be easily and locally found even if not commonly used. For instance, nutrition in those communities is generally based on manioc to a large extent. Therefore, we propose recipes with ingredients that are as cheap as manioc while being more nutritious and offering more variety for a balanced diet such as beans, carrots, herbs, banana, beet, spinach, pumpkin. With such ingredients, we developed original recipes like 'Pumpkin Seeds Bread', 'Beans Burger', 'Spinach Dumplings', 'Banana marmalade' etc… Why not try, as well as nutritious they are extremly tasty!
In 2007 was designed "Recetas saludables a lo Paraguay", or "Paraguayan Healthy meal time". It is a school game that contains traditional recipes made with healthy ingredients. This material respects local gastronomy, traditions, customs and nutritious habits.
