Jacob Stockdale joins Danone to launch revised ‘Eat Like A Champ’ healthy eating programme for Northern Irish primary schools with new guidance on sustainability and planet friendly behaviours
- Lessons and resources designed to teach children about healthy, sustainable lifestyles in a fun and exciting way
- Programme is written in collaboration with the British Dietetic Association, the British Nutrition Foundation and Hubbub
- Registrations for Eat Like A Champ 2020 / 2021 are now open
Danone, in the company of rugby player Jacob Stockdale, today announced a new and improved Eat Like A Champ programme, designed to champion healthy, sustainable lifestyles in primary schools across Northern Ireland. The free, evidence based healthy eating education programme, aimed at 9 and 10-year olds, has been refreshed to include guidance on sustainability and the impact of food systems on the planet fortifying Danone’s One Planet, One Health message.
The updated programme includes specially tailored lessons about healthy eating, hydration and staying active as well as information on sustainable diets and planet-friendly behaviours like recycling and reducing food waste. The fun and inclusive programme aims to support teachers to educate, inspire and engage the next generation to live a healthy, sustainable lifestyle.
Changing Habits
Eat Like A Champ was created by Danone in 2010 to inspire children to adopt healthier eating habits and combat poor nutrition and childhood obesity in the UK. Now, 10 years on, childhood obesity remains a major concern as can be seen in the recent delivery of the UK Obesity Strategy. Figures from the Department of Health found that over a quarter (27%) of children aged 2-15 were either overweight (19%) or obese (8%).
Speaking at the launch, Jacob Stockdale said, ”Obesity is one of the great health challenges of our age, and COVID-19 has made this issue even more timely. I am delighted to be supporting Danone and Eat Like a Champ as I believe we can all play a part in helping educate children about healthy eating and how to practice healthy eating in everyday life. Learning about the relationship between our own health and the health of a planet at an early age is key to fostering good habits.”
The updated Eat Like A Champ programme will now also educate children about the climate change and the challenges of our global food system which will largely impact future generations. Children will learn about important topics including food waste, recycling and understanding portions and labelling on food products through readily available resources linked to the school curriculum that can be downloaded and delivered in the classroom.
Eat Like A Champ seeks to contribute to a positive movement by providing practical, adaptable resources on healthy sustainable diets and lifestyles. By increasing children’s awareness of the impact of our food, drink and activity choices, we can encourage them to adopt healthier, more sustainable lifestyles and empower them to change their habits and make a positive difference to the world around them.
The Eat Like A Champ programme is designed to engage children, at an age where they have increased influence and awareness and encourage them to lead as role models. Parents can also get involved by accessing helpful recipes and tips on the dedicated parents’ section of the Eat Like A Champ website to encourage a healthy sustainable lifestyle both at home and in school.
One Planet. One Health.
Eat Like A Champ illustrates Danone’s mission to bring health through food to as many people as possible and to inspire healthier and more sustainable eating and drinking practices, in line with its One Planet. One Health. vision.
James Bruce, Commercial Director of Danone EDP UK and Ireland said: “At Danone we believe that we all have a role to play in protecting the health of people and our planet and therefore we commit to increasing children’s awareness of the impact of our food systems and their activities to encourage them to adapt to healthier, more sustainable lifestyles.”
Eat Like A Champ was written in collaboration with the British Dietetic Association (BDA), the British Nutrition Foundation and creative, sustainability agency Hubbub to ensure that the messages are evidence-based, consistent with government guidelines and linked to primary school curricula throughout the UK.
Claire Theobald, Education Services Manager at the British Nutrition Foundation said, “BNF is pleased to have worked in collaboration with Danone to update the ELAC toolkit to include information and activities exploring healthy, sustainable diets. At a time when the health of our children is more important than ever, we hope the updated ELAC toolkit will support teachers in Northern Ireland, and across the UK, to educate and encourage children to live healthier, more sustainable lives – now and in the future.”
For more information about the programme and to download the new resources visit