Dubai: While most diets focus on the less, a new movement is focusing on the MORE.
United for Healthier Kids (U4HK), which was launched in Dubai last week, wants parents to give their children MORE Movement; MORE Water; MORE Fruits & Vegetables; and MORE Managed Portions.
“Arab mums have this spirit of generosity; they want to give more to their kids. We don’t want to contradict their spirit. We want to channel it to the right things,” said U4HK Lead Zainab Maktabi.
Zainab is also the nutrition, health and wellness manager at Nestlé Middle East, which launched U4HK last Monday.
“We also want to say ‘more’, but more of the right things. We don’t want to present it by saying less TV, etc.”
U4HK aims to encourage parents to nurture those choices for children aged four to 12. In the UAE, around one third of children in that age group are overweight or obese, according to the World Health Organisation.
Lack of exercise is one reason; another is eating too much.
A dedicated website has been launched to guide parents and encourage children to achieve those targets through fun and educational ways. Local TV and radio programmes will also be aired under the U4HK drive.
Joining forces with Nestlé Middle East for the programme are MBC Al Amal and Arabian Radio Network.
