The educational program “Granny’s Healthy Bag – Education for a healthy lifestyle” organized by the Healthy Traditions Foundation and supported by Nestlé has achieved remarkable results in improving the eating habits of school children participating in this project. Specifically, the percentage of overweight or obese children has visibly decreased year after year, according to annual anthropometric measurements (height, body mass and abdominal circumference).

The figures are based on anthropometric measurements carried out on more than 20,000 children from schools participating in the project in Iasi County between 2012-2023. The results highlight the beneficial effects of education for a balanced diet, namely a 45% decrease, from 28% in 2013 to 15.5% in 2023, in the prevalence of overweight (obesity and overweight) among urban children in schools participating in the “Granny’s Healthy Bag” program.

On the other hand, in the school year 2023-2024 there is the first class of graduates of the complementary training program “Granny’s Healthy Bag – Education for a Healthy Lifestyle”, teachers who will be able to teach healthy habits to more than 2,500 children year after year, using the educational package of the program.

“With the help of a team of exceptional specialists and long-time friends of the program, we have achieved the great feat of training 92 teachers to use the Traista cu sănătate manual in six months. The optional subject “Traista cu sănătate- education for a healthy lifestyle” is proposed at national level for pre-school and school education, the program is open to any school or kindergarten in Romania, and the teacher training course to teach this complementary subject has been endorsed by the Ministry of Education”, explains Prof. Univ. Dr. Veronica Mocanu, the initiator of the project “Granny’s Healhty Bag“. Over 10,000 children were enrolled in the program during 2023-2024 school year, when the campaign was entitled “Balanced Healthy Lunchbox”.

Granny’s Healthy Bag program, which is celebrating its 13th anniversary this year, is the only obesity prevention program that includes the following: Optional subject, Healthy Tray – Education for a Healthy Lifestyle, based on a scientifically rigorous educational package; Teacher training course for the optional subject endorsed by the Ministry of Education (18-20 CPT) for teachers supported by reputed specialists; Free nutritional counseling provided to children and adolescents with obesity by obesity specialists. Schools wishing to participate in this program can register here.

Traista cu sănătate also offers the possibility to train teachers in the field of nutrition and balanced lifestyle through the training course “Granny’s Healthy Bag – Education for a Healthy Lifestyle” endorsed by the Ministry of Health. Teachers can apply here.

“We are proud to be a partner in this project which, after becoming a best practice model for the rest of Europe, is now producing visible effects at mass level, according to the measurements, because each percentage improvement represents dozens of children whose nutrition has improved thanks to education. Through the Nestlé for Healthier Kids Global Initiative, we will continue to support this program to shape healthy behaviors and prevent obesity and chronic diseases, in a context where in Romania, as worldwide, the obesity epidemic is a real threat to public health”, says Nicoleta Tupiță, Registered Dietitian and Nutrition Manager Nestlé Romania, Bulgaria and the Adriatic Countries.

Granny’s Healthy Bag programme won the 2020 EU Health Award in the Healthy Lifestyle for Cities category and is internationally recognized as part of the international Youth Health Community (YHC) network, along with programmes in over 10 countries. At the Global Obesity Forum (New York, 2012), the Healthy Lunch Bag Program was awarded first prize for the best child obesity prevention activity.

Nestlé, the world’s largest food and beverage company, through its Global Initiative Nestlé for Healthier Kids, joined the Healthy Trails Project run by the Foundation for Healthy Traditions as a lead partner in 2019, aiming to support nationwide adoption of a healthy lifestyle.

Granny’s Healthy Bag is a healthy nutrition project for children with a mission to form healthy eating and lifestyle habits in children and young people by promoting local traditions and culture. The aims of the Healthy Traditions Foundation are to encourage the adoption of a balanced diet, promote physical activity, provide services to help overweight patients manage their weight, support and promote health-related actions and research projects, cultivate and promote cultural traditions that can lead to the formation of healthy habits.