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Webinar Title: Quality School Meals and Nutrition Education for a Healthier 8000 Days for Children
Date: Thursday, February 27, 2025
Co-organized by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) School Health and Nutrition Research Consortium
Location: Online
Main Speakers
Moderator: Tomoya Yoshida, Deputy Director, Human Development Department and Director, Health Group 2, JICA
Opening Remarks: Takeshi Matsuyama, Deputy Director General, Human Development Department and Director, Basic Education Group, JICA
Speakers:
1 . Donald Bundy Professor, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Donald Bundy Professor, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine 2 . Margarita Focus Licht, Manager, Partner Collaboration Promotion, Global Partnership for Education
Margarita Focus Licht, Partner Collaboration Promotion Manager, Global Partnership for Education 3 . Marika Nomura International Cooperation Specialist, Human Development Department, JICA
Marika Nomura, International Cooperation Specialist, Human Development Department, JICA 4 . Puncas Bahri Ali, Advisor to the Minister of Social Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, National Development Planning Agency, Indonesia
Puncas Bahri Ali Advisor to the Minister, National Development Planning Agency, Indonesia, in charge of Social Affairs and Poverty Alleviation 5 . Mohamed Abdelmighid Program Officer, Special Activities Unit, Special Activities Bureau, Ministry of Education, Egypt, Project for the Development and Dissemination of the Japanese Model of Education with a Focus on Special Activities
Mohamed Abdelmigied Project for the Development and Dissemination of the Japanese Model of Education Focusing on Special Activities, Program Officer, Special Activities Unit, Special Activities Bureau, Ministry of Education, Egypt 6 . Koji Ishizuka, Chief, Delicious School Lunch Section, Fukuroi City Board of Education
Closing Remarks: Donald Bundy, Professor, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
background
Investing in the nutrition, growth, and wellbeing of school-aged children and adolescents in the “first 8,000 days of life” is critical to the economic and social future of all countries, high income and low and middle income. In addition to the fact that healthy and well-nourished children are more likely to achieve learning outcomes and higher incomes in their later life course, establishing healthy eating habits in childhood can also help prevent non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in adulthood. This requires maximizing children’s development and human capital by using the school setting as a platform during the “first 8,000 days of life”.
Purpose and Contents
The purpose of this webinar was to explore the potential of school lunch to provide children with better quality nutrition and the potential of nutrition education to promote healthy eating habits from the perspectives of both education and health, and to discuss measures to implement and promote them across both fields. It was attended by 353 participants from 44 countries.
Speakers included “Nutrition for the Next 7000 Days (After the First 1000 Days of Life): For Better Health of People and Planet”, “School Health and Nutrition: Supporting Education System Transformation”, “JICA’s Cooperation on School Meals and Food Education”, “Nutritious Free School Meals for Human Capital Development in Indonesia Program: Toward Golden Indonesia 2045,” “Promoting the Establishment of Healthy Eating Habits among Egyptian Students through Japan’s Inclusive Education Model (Special Activities),” and “School Meals for Building Japan’s Future: Supporting Japan’s Healthiest Cultural City with the Best School Meals in Japan” were presented.
The panel discussion that followed discussed the impact of nutrition improvement efforts in the education sector and the impact of investments in school meals and nutrition education over the next 8,000 days. The panelists discussed the impact of improved nutrition on learning and the ripple effects and potential of nutrition education to improve the health of families and communities through collaboration between the education and health sectors, and also emphasized the importance of taking an integrated approach with shared objectives for each sector, as the objectives of the health and education sectors are different. Furthermore, the issues of monitoring and evaluation methods and funding by national governments were addressed. Comparing best practices and differences in policies among countries, the importance of building sustainable models and flexible approaches that take regional characteristics into account was emphasized. The possibility of international cooperation and the need for multi-sectoral collaboration to improve nutrition were also discussed.
Mr. Bandy pointed out that school feeding programs are a $48 billion-a-year industry affecting 420 million children worldwide. He also explained that 98% of school lunch implementing countries implement school lunches from their own budgets, and that school lunches are unique in that they are national programs, not aid programs, and concluded that adequate funding and multi-sectoral cooperation are essential for success.
JICA aims to reduce the “double burden of malnutrition (undernutrition and overnutrition)” in developing countries by promoting a multi-sectoral approach and strengthening cooperation with development partners, with an emphasis on strengthening the capacity and initiative of developing countries, and to contribute to the realization of SDG Target 2.2 (Eliminate all forms of malnutrition by 2030) Contribute to the realization of other international nutrition goals.
Opening remarks by Mr. Matsuyama, Director, JICA Basic Education Group
Prof. Donald Bundy giving a presentation, LSHTM
Moderator (Mr. Yoshida, Director, Health Group 2, JICA) and speakers (top right: Mr. Abdelmigied, bottom left: Mr. Ishizuka, bottom right: Mr. Nomura, International Cooperation Specialist) discussing Panel Discussion 1
© Source JICA
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