To engage the youth in today’s challenging times, Nestlé for Healthier Kids Program (N4HK) launched essay writing contest. The initiative was launched to educate quarantined children about hygiene, nutrition and prevention of infectious diseases. Such interactive campaigns make children self- aware; thereby help them in becoming more conscious and careful about their health and understanding the intensity of the COVID-19 pandemic.
What is N4HK?
Launched in 2010, Nestlé for Healthier Kids (N4HK) is a comprehensive nutrition awareness program. It aims to educate parents, teachers and caregivers to induce a healthy lifestyle among school-going children. So far, the program has reached about 220,000 children and 1100 teachers in Pakistan.
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Education is a powerful tool for ensuring that children understand the value of nutrition and physical activity. Nestlé for Healthier Kids makes a collective effort with its partners to help address and overcome the nutrition challenge to give the children a happier and healthier future. It is worth mentioning that N4HK is also committed to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3 of Good Health and Well-Being.
Nestlé for Healthier Kids is a curriculum-based program comprising of two books which provide basic knowledge on nutrition and encourage physical activity, intake of balanced diet and importance of hydration and hygiene. More here: https://t.co/vw1ryVybzF#HealthierKids #SDG3
— Nestlé Pakistan (@nestlepakistan) July 27, 2020
Nestlé for Healthier Kids (N4HK) essay writing competition was a constructive activity to engage the youth in a creative campaign during the pandemic – as it continues to spread and confine people largely to their homes. The organization did this by presenting three essay topics:
- ‘Poor Hygiene may Invite Many Diseases’
- ‘Significance of Immune System’
- ‘I Have to Stay at Home Because of Some WideSpread Communicable Diseases. I Must Practice Self-Care Through Healthy and Stress-Reduction Activities.
Insight of N4HK’s essay-writing contest
This activity nurtured a healthy competition amongst children. During the entire activity, they understood the importance of good nutrition and its contribution to a healthier immune system. The children participating were asked to submit their essay entries of approximately 400 words to N4HK Panel of Judges via email. In total, the participation for this event was quite large, with more than thousand entries. These rolled from across Pakistan and other countries including Philippines, Qatar, Jordan, UAE and United States.
Nestlé for Healthier Kids program has reached out to more than 220,000 children in 280 schools located in rural, sub-urban and urban areas. Read more here: https://t.co/vw1ryVPMYf#HealthierKids #SDG3 #GoodLife pic.twitter.com/Rf0erAcviJ
— Nestlé Pakistan (@nestlepakistan) July 24, 2020
Children and youngsters spent their unending break in a learned and informed way. They were given a platform to communicate original ideas and construct meaningful, informative and thought-provoking pieces of writing. Not only this, but the essay topics provided an opportunity for the contestants to research topics which have become crucial in the prevalent coronavirus situation. These include the importance of good hygiene, role of nutrition and healthy food choices to boost immunity and overcome diseases, and practicing self-care through healthy and stress-reduction activities during this pandemic. Through awareness on such topics, children became more responsible and careful in a fear-stricken community from the virus.
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Further pros of the contest
N4HK’s initiative allowed the participants to improve their writing skills well beyond the scope of their schools. This also permitted the children to engage with the community based on their understanding, and broaden the scope of their critical thinking and creativity enhancement. The participating children found a platform to express themselves in a critically academic environment and also experienced a healthy sense of competition. More importantly, it instilled in the contestants a sense of excellence, as they were expected to write a piece of an exceptional standard in a national competition; these qualities are crucial to academic success, and this competition provided just that.
After a long process of sifting through the unique and original work of Pakistan’s youth, Nestlé’s judges picked three winners and runner-ups. The criteria of selection for the winners was: in-depth understanding of the topic, and the ability to convey their points in exceptional writing.
Nestlé for Healthier Kids provides students with some great hands-on opportunities to learn about the importance of good nutrition and physical activity. Read here: https://t.co/vw1ryVPMYf#N4HK #SDG3
— Nestlé Pakistan (@nestlepakistan) July 27, 2020
These essays also reflected the analytical abilities of the kids, as they dissected the topic of the essay. The contestants demonstrated a perfect understanding of what the judges were looking for in the essays. The competition was geared towards two age groups (10-12 years and 13-16 years) in each essay category. One winner and one runner-up were selected from each age group.
Rewarding the Participants
Runner-ups will receive certificates of recognition and the first 100 entries will receive certificates of participation from Nestlé Pakistan. Such recognition will pay off the winners’ efforts and motivate other children to work on their writing skills as well as educate themselves on pertinent issues.
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| Essay Category | Age Group A (10-12) years | Age Group B (13-16) years |
| Essay Category I | Winner: Mariyaan Ali Imran
Runner Up: Hana Nadeem
|
Winner: Zainab Waheed
Runner Up: Eeman Fatima
|
| Essay Category II | Winner: Fareeha Salman
Runner Up: Ahad Yunus Chohan |
Winner: Shanzay Khan
Runner Up: Salik Shoaib |
| Essay Category III | Winner: Ahmad Inam
Runner Up: Muhammad Saad Saboor |
Winner: Myra Aman
Runner Up: Maha Faisal |
The top submissions in all three categories have been published on Nestlé Pakistan’s website here.