BNP Paribas Cardif supports UNICEF in preventing overweight and obesity in children in Latin America

CHILE/PANAMA, 7 April 2022.– On this World Health Day, 7 April 2022, BNP Paribas Cardif and UNICEF join forces to prevent children with overweight and obesity in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru. This new regional partnership targets school-age children, caregivers and school staff, aiming to help almost 50,000 children and adolescents, and impact 1 million individuals across the wider community. The company supports UNICEF’s efforts in promoting awareness, knowledge, and practices regarding healthy lifestyles in schools, households, and recreational centres in the five selected countries.

BNP Paribas Cardif’s contribution comes at a time when the fight against overweight and obesity is more important than ever. As COVID-19 hit Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) particularly hard, the devastating socio-economic impact of the pandemic also translated into much poorer and unhealthier diets for children in the region. Not only are 3 out of every 10 children and adolescents aged between 5 and 19 overweight in LAC[1], but also people with overweight , who contract COVID-19, are at greater risk of suffering serious consequences.

“The pandemic has harmed the nutrition of children and adolescents across Latin America and the Caribbean. Many parents have struggled to put nutritious food on the table, and children have been eating more unhealthy food. The most vulnerable have missed out on school meals during almost two years of school closures,” said Jean Gough, UNICEF Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean. “All families should be able to access nutritious food and be empowered to make healthy lifestyle choices. We thank BNP Paribas Cardif for sharing this belief and supporting UNICEF’s childhood overweight prevention programmes to help children and communities thrive.” 

Contributing towards multiple initiatives tailored to each target country, the partnership aims at creating healthier environments for all children in and outside of school, while also empowering school-age youth, caregivers and the wider community to make healthy choices and advocating for those.

“Today more than ever, BNP Paribas Cardif wants to give everyone the opportunity to preserve their health and that of their family. The pandemic, which has revealed that overweight and obese people are more at risk of developing this disease in a serious way, and this reinforces our conviction about the importance and urgency of focusing on this issue” said Francisco Valenzuela, the regional CEO for Latin America at BNP Paribas Cardif. “We are proud to have entered a partnership with an expert organization like UNICEF. This agreement supports tailored responses in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru to face the growing prevalence of overweight and obesity.”

Thanks to BNP Paribas Cardif’s contribution, UNICEF will implement several activities such as the identification of elements of obesogenic environment in schools, the delivery of training around healthy habits, and the reinforcement of peer-to-peer advocacy among children and adolescents on the importance of eating healthy and being active.

By partnering with UNICEF, BNP Paribas Cardif contributes to the creation of healthier and more accessible food environments for children in the region to prevent childhood obesity.

[1] Source: NCD-RisC, Child & Adolescent Body-Mass Index, <https://ncdrisc.org/data-downloads-adiposity-ado.html>.