Nutrition and Fitness

Adequate nutrition and physical fitness are vital to good health, learning, and workplace performance. Yet, more than 800 million people worldwide, mostly from developing countries, experience chronic hunger. Every year over 5 million children die from undernourishment and lack of sufficient vitamins and minerals.

Obesity is also a concern: The World Health Organization projects that, by 2015, 700 million people over the age of 15 will be obese and 2.3 billion will be overweight. Once a problem associated with industrialized countries, obesity is now a growing burden in developing countries as well. It can lead to serious health consequences including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, some forms of cancer, and musculoskeletal disorders.

At HHD, we work primarily with schools and ministries of education to encourage a multifaceted strategy that combines educating students and families about nutrition and fitness along with the provision of healthy school meals, school gardens, and exercise programs.