The Sanitarium Health and Wellbeing Company has invested AU$200,000 (approx. US$128,000) in a partnership with the not-for-profit organization Life Ed and its much-loved mascot, Healthy Harold, to bring health education to the next generation. ”The Inside Story,” a health module designed to empower children to make healthy choices, is expected to engage more than 100,000 kids in its first three years.

Sanitarium has also given an additional AU$125,000 to Life Ed, enabling at least 10,000 more children from underprivileged areas to access health education. The module provides information on sustaining a balanced diet, which not only supports the body but is also critical for a range of positive outcomes, including mental well-being, learning, and development.

The initiative addresses recent research from Sanitarium, which found that 44 percent of parents are concerned their young children can’t make healthy food choices.1

Despite 73 percent of parents being confident about where to find nutrition advice for their family, 38 percent feel they can’t influence their children’s food choices. Another concerning statistic is that 46 percent of parents are anxious about their children’s weight, mirroring national data showing that one in four school children is overweight or obese.2

However, the survey reveals that parents’ top concerns are their children’s mental health or mood (91 percent), followed by academic performance (67 percent), which research increasingly shows is explicitly impacted by the food children put in their bodies. 

Trish Guy, an Accredited Practising Dietitian from Sanitarium’s Nutrition Insights team, stressed that children are influenced by many external factors during their long school hours. ”Raising healthy kids is a whole-of-community responsibility and something we’ve passionately believed in at Sanitarium for 125 years. Our partnership with Life Ed supports even more primary school kids and their families to make positive decisions about their health for the long-term,” said Guy.

The curriculum-aligned module is specifically designed for year 3 and year 4 children to learn about the interconnectedness of body systems and how they impact physical health and well-being. Using innovative technology including augmented reality to bring this to life, the module is now available in schools around the country.

It comes at a critical time, as children born today in some parts of Australia have a shorter expected lifespan than they did ten years ago due to rising obesity rates, highlighting the importance of learning about healthy choices early to help build longer and ultimately happier lives.3

Lisa Woodward from Life Ed praised Sanitarium’s support, explaining that the module’s immersive approach to health education “offers kids the chance to join a team of young scientists who shrink Healthy Harold to fit inside a human body and explore everything they need to keep healthy, from oxygen and water to the nutrients which provide the energy needed to learn and play.”

To learn more about The Inside Story, visit The Inside Story – Life Ed Australia.

1 Sanitarium Health Food Company engaged Fiftyfive5, an Australian market research agency that’s part of Accenture Song, to design and conduct an online attitudinal survey of 508 parents of children ages 4–12 who live in Australia. The survey was conducted in May 2023.

2 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2022 (https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/children-youth/australias-children/contents/health/overweight-obesity)

3 Health and Wellbeing Queensland, 2022 (https://hw.qld.gov.au/blog/obesity-crisis-to-cut-life-expectancy-for-queensland-kids-new-report/)

The original version of this story was posted on the South Pacific Division website, Adventist Record.