1. Develop nutritional and physical activity promotion tools for Cameroon schools.2. Train school and college teachers to deliver nutritional education curriculum and promote physical activity3. Implement the education and physical activity promotion curriculum in 100 schools4. Advocate for promotion of improved nutrition and physical activity
Initially, the project will conduct an assessment of dietary habits and exercise behaviour among secondary school students through interviews and data collection among various key stakeholders and civil society groups. Based on this study nutritional education curriculum for schools and colleges, including photo atlas, phone app and replica food items will be developed with a view to support various teaching approaches. All material will be developed in close cooperation with the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Ministry of Education (MoE) and will be endorsed by MoE as official national curriculum. Once the teaching material has been developed, the project will implement activities for strengthening of capacity for national response to dietary habits and exercise behaviour among secondary school students through training of science teachers within the new nutritional curriculum didactics. The trainings will be carried out by national and regional supervisors from the MoE, who will also oversee implementation at local level. When all trainings have been concluded a roll-out of the pilot prevention programme for improvement of dietary habit and exercise behaviour among secondary school students will be carried out through implementation of three times two-hour sessions in schools with a special focus on obese and other vulnerable students. In addition to these initiatives the project will also conduct continuous monitoring of project impact among students through annual data collection of BMI, dietary habits and exercise behaviour.
Nutritional education curriculum for secondary schools developed and being integrated into the national curriculum (expected ready for the 2023-2024 school year) 581 teachers/school doctors and nurses representing 134 schools trained on nutritional education242,014 children sensitized in 537 schools (through the cascade training approach)524 food vendors and school canteens personnel trained National School Hygiene Policy now includes food vendor training on healthy cooking as a prerequisite certification for any vendor admitted in secondary school canteens 40,000 children provided education on healthy diet and exercise behaviour.