• New report outlines progress on improving nutrition, access to healthy foods through gardening and physical activity among school-aged children
  • Programs aim to transform the lives of more than one million children around the world
  • Part of multi-year, $50 million commitment to promote healthy lifestyles and address obesity

DEERFIELD, Ill., April 26, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Mondelēz International Foundation today published results demonstrating the wide-ranging impact of its community well-being programs in Brazil, China, Germany, India, Mexico, South Africa and the United Kingdom. Part of a multi-year, $50 million commitment announced in 2013, these community partnerships are transforming the lives of more than a million children in 14 nations spanning five continents. Working closely with leading non-government organizations, public health experts, local governments, parents and teachers, the Foundation and its partners are empowering families and communities to lead healthier lives by focusing on nutrition education, active play and access to fresh foods, as well as innovative approaches to learning such as gardening.

“We’re proud to partner with organizations that share our passion to promote active, healthy lifestyles in countries with some of the highest childhood obesity rates,” said Sarah Delea, President of the Mondelēz International Foundation. “Across all of our programs, success is built on collaboration. While each program operates independently on the ground, the Foundation brings the teams together to share ideas and learn from each other. This has been instrumental to their progress.”

Each partner monitors effectiveness and transparency to ensure their programs connect in a meaningful way with primary-school children, their families and communities. They track progress against a universal set of metrics critical to achieving well-being, which the Foundation developed in collaboration with its community partners and a public health expert from Yale School of Public Health in 2013.

“The Mondelēz International Foundation’s efforts are a major step in the right direction towards improving community health programs’ processes, oversight and outcomes.  As a result, partners are seeing positive change in their communities,” said Rafael Pérez-Escamilla, PhD, Professor of Epidemiology & Director, Office of Public Health Practice, Yale School of Public Health.

Following are highlights from seven programs included in the report:

  • Brazil: Through a partnership with INMED Partnerships for Children and Instituto Esporte e Educacao, Health in Action engaged over 400,000 students from more than 1,000 schools in healthy lifestyle education activities, such as gardening and exercise games.
     
  • China: Mondelēz Hope Kitchen Nutrition & Healthy Lifestyles Program benefited 150,000 rural students with support from the Chinese Youth Development Foundation and Chinese Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The program achieved a 10 percent decrease in students with malnutrition and a 6 percent increase in students with a normal Body Mass Index.
     
  • India: Shubh Aarambh (Auspicious Beginning), a joint program of Save the Children India and Magic Bus, reported 68 percent of students were more physically active daily.
     
  • United Kingdom: Operating in over 100 schools and benefiting over 80,000 students, Health for Life has had a positive impact on nutrition behaviors, reporting an increased consumption of fruits and vegetables. In addition, 68 percent of parents reported they would change/do something regarding healthy choices for themselves and their families, such as looking more carefully at nutrition labels and changing their child’s lunches and beverages.

Gardens: The Key to Improving Nutrition
In many of the Foundation’s programs, gardens are the cornerstone for creating nutritious eating habits. For instance, since implementing garden-based education programs with interactive workshops in Mexico, the number of children eating three or more vegetables doubled. Through the Health for Life program in the United Kingdom, where land is limited in urban areas, children use ingenuity to create gardens out of recycled automobile tires on school rooftops. And in South Africa, aquaponics have been instrumental in bringing fresh foods to areas that lack sufficient water and land.

“We’ve been able to establish a sustainable healthy lifestyle culture among lower-income communities in South Africa by partnering with the Mondelēz International Foundation and drawing best practices from the INMED Health In Action Brazil program,” said Unathi Sihlahla, MA, Program Director of the Health in Action program at INMED South Africa. “The program actively engages students in hands-on, skills-based activities, such as creating school gardens. Providing access to fresh produce through these gardens, along with innovative food production techniques like aquaponics, is especially important given these at-risk communities have limited access to fresh water.”

The Foundation’s efforts support Mondelēz International’s Call For Well-being, which is focused on four key areas where the company can make the greatest impact: community, sustainability, well-being snacks and safety.  To learn more about the Foundation and impact of its programs outlined in the report, please visit: http://bit.ly/2phGQK8. For a summary focused on the school garden results, visit http://bit.ly/2p12iTi.   For an infographic detailing progress, please visit: http://bit.ly/2p110aO.

About Mondelēz International
Mondelēz International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ) is building the best snacking company in the world, with 2016 net revenues of approximately $26 billion.  Creating more moments of joy in approximately 165 countries, Mondelēz International is a world leader in biscuits, chocolate, gum, candy and powdered beverages, featuring global Power Brands such as Oreo and belVita biscuits; Cadbury Dairy Milk and Milka chocolate; and Trident gum.  Mondelēz International is a proud member of the Standard and Poor’s 500, NASDAQ 100 and Dow Jones Sustainability Index. Visit www.mondelezinternational.com or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MDLZ.

Contact: Valerie Moens
+1-847-943-5678
news@mdlz.com

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