UNICEF and Ukraine’s First Lady help teenagers adopt healthy eating habits

Twenty-two teenagers from 16 cities across Ukraine have met with First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska, chef Yevhen Klopotenko and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Representative in Ukraine Munir Mammadzade for the final of a healthy eating game known as ‘ГраЇмо’ (HraImo).

‘HraImo’ is an interactive culinary and educational game about healthy eating for teenagers and young Ukrainians aged 10 to 17, promoting healthy eating activities in youth centres. Over the past year, nearly 25,000 adolescents and young people from 39 communities across the country have participated in the programme and completed themed tasks in an online chatbot game.

"This game is another significant aspect of the school lunch reform that Ukraine is implementing,” said the First Lady. “The only way to raise a generation with healthy eating habits is through conscious efforts, involving all family members. For sure, it is difficult to always follow the ideal of a 'healthy plate’. But knowing it is essential, because the right choices begin with knowledge.”

During the year, participants competed in various interactive formats and, on May 20, the winners of the two semi-finals competed in Kyiv for the title of best experts in the principles of balanced nutrition. Young people from Khmelnytskyi, Chornomorsk, Kyiv, Vyshneve, Snovsk, Plotych, Horodyshche, Fastiv, Zavodske, Ternopil, Lutsk, Kharkiv, Bucha and Zdolbuniv attended the event.

"At UNICEF, we fully support the First Lady of Ukraine's initiative to promote healthy eating habits and lifestyles, which is also an important part of the government's policy to ensure a healthy future for the younger generation,” said UNICEF’s Munir Mammadzade. “Healthy eating is one of the key elements of children's well-being and should become a conscious and balanced choice for Ukrainians. We believe that our joint efforts will help Ukrainians lead healthy lives.”

Judges of the Kyiv event included Orest Stepaniak, Head of the Office of School Food Reform, and Victoria Stelmakh, a nutritionist and expert from the same office. Finalists were invited to a themed brunch with chef Yevhen Klopotenko and received useful items, including their own chef's aprons.

"I don't have children of my own, but I always want to do something good for others,” says Yevhen Klopotenko. “I want Ukrainian children to eat better so that their physical and mental health is maintained through food, and their cultural identity is strengthened. For example, this project showed that teenagers can learn the basics of healthy eating in a playful way. They can choose what is both tasty and healthy for their diet, not just what is tasty. They can grow up to be healthy Ukrainians because they know how to make the right food choices that affect not only their bodies but also their future.”

Yevhen Klopotenko's Cult Food initiative launched the HraImo project to improve food culture with the support of UNICEF in Ukraine, as part of a programme to promote healthy eating among children and young people.