Nestle partners five varsities to better girl health

New Delhi, April 7 : Chocolate and readymade food manufacturer Nestle India Wednesday joined hands with five Indian universities and launched a programme to increase "nutrition awareness" among adolescent girls in villages.

After launching the programme, Antonio Helio Waszyk, chairman of the company said: "Nestle has immense knowledge and expertise in food and nutrition and we intend to use this to help people improve the quality of their lives."

Punjab Agricultural University, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology (Uttarakhand), National Dairy Research Institute (Haryana), Goa University and University of Mysore are the partners in this scheme who will also monitor its progress.

"We all know that food availability and habits differ from region to region and, therefore, in consultation with leading universities in each region who have the knowledge, the content has been customised. The programme will be implemented and monitored jointly with each of these universities," Waszyk said.

It is widely accepted that good nutrition in the early years of life is crucial for human growth and the company said that considering the important role that women play in managing families, awareness and knowledge of nutrition among them is expected to be an important step.

The Nutrition Awareness programme will mainly address girls in the 12-17 age-group. The programme was inaugurated by Agatha Sangma, minister of state for rural development.

The company and universities have developed modules to create awareness on several related topics. The module specifically devotes time to explaining how cooking practices can improve nutrition, as well as the need for food hygiene, sanitation, and physical exercise to improve health and wellness.