Taiwan is offering free breakfast to schoolchildren in Nauru, the head of a Taiwanese technical mission posted in the South Pacific island nation said.
Since the second half of last year, the Taiwanese agricultural mission has worked with Nauru’s education and health ministries to offer free breakfasts to kindergarten and elementary schoolchildren, said Mo Kuo-chung (莫國中), head of the mission.
“The program is aimed at cultivating healthy eating habits among Nauru’s children,” Mo said.
The people of Nauru have traditionally eaten few vegetables because they mainly make their living from fishing. Vegetables grown by Taiwan’s technical mission form a critical part of the free breakfast menus, a program that has not only helped instill an awareness of the importance of healthy eating among young children, but also enhanced attendance at local schools.
Not long ago, attendance was about 30 percent, but has surged to 100 percent with the introduction of the free breakfast program, as many children like the vegetable dishes.
“Nauru used to rely on imports of fresh vegetables. The prices were extremely high, but the quality was not,” Mo said.
Not long after Taiwan’s technical mission began promoting vegetables, produce from local farms became available on the market, but initial sales were sluggish because local residents did not have much of an appetite for greens or know how to cook them.
Because of unhealthy dietary habits, many Nauru nationals are obese, while half of those above the age of 55 suffer from diabetes. The country’s average life expectancy is under 60 years of age. In Nauru, people attach great importance to their 21st and 50th birthdays, the latter symbolizing longevity.
Poor health has inflicted a heavy financial burden on the tiny island nation with a landmass of just 21km².
Taiwan’s technical mission decided to help resolve this issue by first promoting healthy eating among children.
“We wanted to get young children into the habit of eating vegetables in the hope that local adults will gradually follow suit” Mo said.
The technical mission has also worked with the Nauru government to offer low-priced lunches, including vegetables grown by the mission, to high school students and office workers, benefiting about 1,000 people.
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