Bogota joins the global initiative of "Healthy Cities" for children

Bogotá joined the international project of "Healthy Cities", led by the Bloomberg Philanthropies Foundation, which seeks to promote healthy eating in public schools and private.

Bogotá, Nov 21 (EFE) .- Bogotá joined the international project of "Healthy Cities", led by the Bloomberg Philanthropies Foundation, which seeks to promote healthy eating in public and private schools.

"We have dared to make the biggest reform in school feeding that anyone has done in Colombia and (...) we are guaranteeing quality and well-being" to all children and young people, said the mayor of Bogotá, Enrique Peñalosa, quoted in a statement from his office.

The "Healthy Cities" project is present in Boston, Melbourne and London, and seeks to promote healthy eating in schools to prevent chronic diseases not transmissible from an early age.

Mayor Peñalosa explained that diseases Non-communicable chronic diseases "cause more than half of the deaths that occur each year" and that 7 out of 10 are related to preventable risk factors, such as obesity and sedentary life.

"We are proud to be part of this global alliance so that more and more children and young people in our city live, study and play healthy and happy, that's why we work committed to transforming the eating habits of our students, "he added.

As part of the initiative, the Mayor's Office announced that 15 school stores they will be certified to comply with school food safety standards, good manufacturing practices and promotion of healthy eating.

The Secretary of Education of Bogotá, María Victoria Angulo, mentioned that with the certification of the stores they seek to "expand the supply of healthy foods".