UNICEF Supports Efforts to Improve School Nutrition

Following an announcement by the Ministry of Public Education, UNICEF expressed its support for the Mexican government’s commitment to improving nutrition in public schools across the country. Led by President Claudia Sheinbaum, this initiative seeks to ensure that children and adolescents have access to nutritious, sufficient, and high-quality food in all school settings.

The initiative, titled “Guidelines and Actions for a Healthy Life,” focuses on banning the sale of ultra-processed and low-nutritional-value foods in schools, promoting the consumption of natural water, and fostering healthier environments and behaviors in educational communities. These measures aim to combat Mexico's pressing issues of malnutrition, particularly childhood overweight and obesity.

Mexico ranks among the countries with the highest levels of childhood overweight and obesity globally, with 7.7% of children under five, 36.5% of school-aged children, and 40.4% of adolescents affected. Additionally, 1.3 million children still suffer from chronic malnutrition, according to the National Health and Nutrition Survey (ENSANUT) 2020-2023.

The government’s focus on promoting healthy living habits in schools is seen as a crucial step toward addressing these nutrition-related challenges. Schools play a pivotal role in shaping children's health, particularly for the most vulnerable students, by ensuring they have access to nutritious and adequate meals.

UNICEF has pledged its support to help create healthier food environments in schools and views the outlined actions as the first phase of a long-term national strategy aimed at transforming schools into spaces that promote children’s health and well-being. The organization also highlighted that improving school nutrition has proven benefits for cognitive development and learning outcomes.

UNICEF and government authorities agree that high rates of childhood obesity and overweight will have long-term negative effects on Mexico’s human and economic development. Reducing malnutrition in schools is considered a national priority that requires involvement from not only the government and families but also businesses, civil society, universities, and the broader community.