At least 1.5 million children across 600 schools will benefit from free breakfast for the next four weeks in a campaign aimed at addressing nutritional challenges among Kenyan children.
The Unilever sponsored campaign targets to reach five million school children by 2020, Marketing Director Antony Esyalai said yesterday.
Speaking in Nairobi during the launch, Kenya Medical Association CEO Dr Bosire Otieno said most children skip the crucial meal yet it is the most essential for growth and mental performance.
"We cannot sit and watch our children fail to achieve their best because of what we can do – provide a good breakfast," Bosire said.
He said the Good Breakfast initiative will educate children on the importance of breakfast and help instill a culture of healthy eating in future generations.
A similar initiative saw 1.25 million children in 510 schools supplied with Blue Band last year.
Statistics from a 2014 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey shows that 26 per cent of children under five years are stunted, 11 per cent are underweight and 4 per cent are wasted.
Stunting rates are highest (36%) in children aged 18-23 months and lowest (10%) in children aged less than 6 months, the study revealed.
"We need a behavioral change campaign to raise awareness on the importance of a good breakfast," Prof Judith Kimiywe, a Food and Nutrition lecturer at Kenyatta University said.
Globally, studies indicate that 161 million children under the age of five are stunted due to poor nutrition.
A study by TNS, a leading research firm in Africa, shows that the highest number of the cases reported in the continent result from Vitamin A deficiency.
It said the average breakfast of most Kenyan families lack essential nutrients.
The study cited time constraints, little knowledge on importance of breakfast and lack of affordability of a variety of foods as some of the reasons for the trend.