New Campaign For Kids' Good Nutrition

Media Release
Date: Friday, 25th September 2009

New Campaign To Ensure Kiwi Kids Get Enough Vitamins And Minerals

The majority of children in New Zealand are undernourished according to one of the country’s largest natural healthcare companies, Health & Herbs International, which has launched a new campaign to educate parents about the need for supplements. Health & Herbs’ stance is backed up by the most recent Ministry of Health Children’s Nutrition Survey which shows that only two out of five children meet the recommended number of fruit servings per day.

‘New Zealand children are not underfed but they are being fed the wrong foods,’ explains Jacqui Simcock, Senior Technical Manager at Health & Herbs. ‘You only have to look at the obesity statistics to realise that our children are suffering a severe health decline. Twenty-one percent of children in this country are now considered overweight.’

On Sunday, 27th September, Health & Herbs will launch a national campaign for better children’s health and nutrition. The appeal will be headed up by ‘Herbal Hero’, a cartoon character created by Health & Herbs to educate children and their parents on the benefits of good nutrition and taking a regular dietary supplement. ‘Herbal Hero’ will be visiting participating stores, including Westfield shopping centres. Health & Herb’s new Radiance Kids range, which has taken seven years to perfect, will also be available for purchase, including Radiance Kid’s Bone, Radiance Kid’s Immune, Radiance Kid’s Multi, Radiance Kid’s Vege and Radiance Kid’s Colostrum.

‘Even the parents that are doing their best are fighting an uphill battle,’ adds Jacqui. ‘Recent studies in the United States show that the way we have produced and stored our crops over the past fifty years has seriously depleted the nutritional content of our food. Here in New Zealand, we face an additional challenge as our soils are low in the essential minerals, Selenium, Boron and Molybdenum.’

According to Jacqui, there are plenty of things that can be done to reduce the prevalence of inadequately nourished children in this country.
‘Obviously, it is important to get a basic, standard diet of whole foods, grains, fruits and vegetables. Including raw food as part of a rich, healthy diet can also be beneficial as the nutrients that are there will not have been lost through the cooking process,’ says Jacqui.

‘However, if your children hate their vegetables and it is a battle every night to get them to swallow a piece of carrot, a daily dietary supplement that has been formulated specifically for children can be helpful. Just make sure you read the labels carefully. You want to avoid anything that contains a lot of sugar or carbohydrates as these are really just expensive sweets.’
Visit www.healthandherbs.co.nz for more information

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