Blue Band’s three week behaviour change programme that was dubbed, ‘The Good Breakfast Campaign’ has come to an end. It is estimated that the programme was able to reach 6 million school children (directly and indirectly) as well as their respective parents and guardians. The campaign in its 3rd year since its inception in 2016 seeks to tackle the serious challenge of poor nutrition among school going children by driving behaviour change and teaching them the importance of taking a nutritious breakfast.
As part of the programme, food diaries were provided to pupils to record their daily breakfast routine at home with the assistance of their parents and guardians. This ensured that the information received in school was also shared at home and had buy-in from parents and guardians. In addition, the children were also actively involved in fun and engaging challenges such as reciting pledges, doing the Blue Band dance and reading the Blue Band comic book.
According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), at least 29.9 per cent of children under five years of age have moderately stunted growth, while another 13 per cent is underweight because they do not get sufficient nutrients for optimal physical and mental development.
Speaking during the school award ceremony, marketing manager at Upfield, Ms. Wanjiku Njonjo said: “When we first launched this campaign in 2016, we only targeted children in Nairobi and its environs, but later realized that there was a gap in the rural areas that we needed to fill.”