'Kids who eat well, do well': Canadian parents want more practical nutrition education in schools

PC Children's Charity answers the call with new classroom resource and campaign in partnership with WE Schools

BRAMPTON, ON, Oct. 25, 2018 /CNW/ - Canada's Food Guide is changing and every day there is conflicting information about what constitutes a healthy, balanced diet.  With all this confusion, a recent survey has found most Canadians believe that school curriculum should help bring clarity through more nutrition education and more practical skills like cooking and food preparation.

The survey conducted by PC Children's Charity also shows that 90 percent of Canadians believe learning about food and nutrition as a kid creates healthy habits that extend to adulthood.  In the spirit of creating these healthy habits, PC Children's Charity has partnered with WE Schools, a free service-learning program part of WE's family of organizations that comes to life in over 7,000 schools and school groups. The partnership has released a new a classroom resource, Healthy Food for Healthy Bodies, and a campaign, WE Eat Well, to deliver nutrition education to youth across Canada.

"We know that kids who eat well, do well.  One really important step in eating well is understanding what makes a healthy meal, what snacks should be eaten in moderation, and even where food comes from," said Sarah Davis, President of Loblaw Companies Limited and Chair of PC Children's Charity. "While the kitchen at home is where many children get their first lesson in healthy eating, not everyone has the same access to nutrition education. That's where our new Healthy Food for Healthy Bodies and the WE Eat Well campaign come in."

Healthy Food for Healthy Bodies will engage students from Kindergarten to Grade 8 in activities designed to explore how healthy food helps the body grow, function and develop, and to understand the importance of making healthy food choices.

Outside of the classroom, WE Eat Well provides students with the tools they need to discover the benefits of healthy eating, explore nutritious alternatives and share their learnings with friends, family and their school to spread awareness about the importance of healthy eating habits.

"We are thrilled to partner with PC Children's Charity to deliver nutrition education to over 1.9 million WE schools and groups across Canada," said Craig Kielburger, co-founder of WE. "Through the classroom resource and the campaign, young Canadians will gain a deeper understanding of what it means to lead a healthy, nutritious life. Thanks to PC Children's Charity's generous support, healthy eating will be an everyday topic whether in the classroom, in the school yard or at the kitchen table – and for that, we're grateful."

Lessons expand beyond the classroom walls with extensions and activities including field trips encouraging students to explore their local food landscape and strengthen their understanding of food production and distribution in their community.

For more information about Healthy Food for Healthy Bodies and WE Eat Well, visit WE.org/weschools.

About PC® Children's Charity Founded in 1989, PC® Children's Charity has granted more than $175 million to help more than four million children.  In 2017, it pledged an additional $150 million over ten years to increase access to good food and food education for children across the country, providing them with a foundation to learn and grow and empowering them to make a positive contribution to the world around them.   

The charity's administration is fully funded by Loblaw Companies Limited. For more information or to donate online, visit pc.ca/charity.

About WE
WE is a family of organizations making doing good, doable. WE is made up of WE Charity, empowering domestic and international change, ME to WE, a social enterprise that creates socially conscious products and experiences to help support the charity, and WE Day, filling stadiums around the world with the greatest celebration of social good. WE enables youth and families to better the world – supporting 7,200+ local and global causes by volunteering millions of hours of service, shopping daily with an impact, and raising millions of dollars that directly benefit their local communities and the world. Globally, our teams in Asia, Africa, and Latin America have provided more than 1 million people with clean water, built 1,000 schools and schoolrooms overseas, and empowered more than 200,000 children with access to education. WE was founded more than 20 years ago by social entrepreneurs, brothers Craig and Marc Kielburger. Join the movement today at WE.org.

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SOURCE President's Choice Children's Charity

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