March 7, 2024 - Chile joined this week a group of 14 countries from Latin America and the Caribbean in the implementation of the Sustainable Schools methodology, created in 2012 by Brazil-FAO Cooperation and participating countries. The launch of the Chilean initiative was announced during the inauguration ceremony of the school year at the Bicentennial Insular High School of Achao on Quinchao Island, located in Chiloé, alongside representatives from FAO, local authorities, and the school community.

The national intervention began this month in the communes of Curaco de Vélez and Achao, in Chiloé, following a diagnosis carried out on the nutritional status of about 500 students and their families in this locality during 2023. The project is developed by the Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology (INTA) of the University of Chile, through the Active Aging program, and in collaboration with the National Board of School Aid and Scholarships (Junaeb), the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Social Development, the Municipality of Quinchao, and the Bicentennial Insular High School of Achao.

It also has the support of the Representation in Chile of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Brazil-FAO International Cooperation, which created this methodology more than 10 years ago. The Sustainable Schools methodology was created on the premise that schools are privileged spaces for community convergence and that the social and economic development of a city is associated with educational inclusion. So far, there are already more than 23,000 schools with this methodology in 14 countries in the region.

"The Sustainable Schools methodology seeks to generate practical experiences and demonstrate the challenges and potentialities of each country, with a view to promoting the scaling up of these experiences to school feeding policy. We are pleased to see that Chile is advancing in this line of action, whose knowledge obtained will inspire other countries. This is the great value of networking," commented Najla Veloso, coordinator of the project  regional sustainable school feeding agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean, carried out jointly by the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC), the National Fund for Educational  Development (FNDE), and FAO. "We value and congratulate the initiative and the collaborative work of academic actors, the school, and the Chilean government in the implementation of this methodology," she added.

The initiative is part of Chile's commitment following its incorporation into the Sustainable School Feeding Network (RAES) in May 2023. RAES is an international cooperation strategy, carried out by the ABC, FNDE, and FAO, of which 26 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have already participated in actions. Its objective is to strengthen school feeding policies in the region, in order to provide technical assistance to countries in the implementation and reformulation of their school feeding programmes, under the principle of the human right to adequate food.

Junaeb pointed out "that we always work to safeguard healthy, balanced, and nutritious food for our beneficiaries, and collaboration with RAES is aimed in that direction. In this context, we value the implementation of spaces like Sustainable Schools, where communities and specialists of various kinds come together to address food challenges and contribute to local development."

The mayor of Quinchao, René Garcés, said that "the work in the commune marks a national and international milestone that will bring great achievements thanks to the effort of so many aligned actors to work with healthy food." Garcés emphasized the need to have concrete data to evaluate the work over time and determine results. "This initiative of healthy and sustainable schools is being carried out in 14 countries around the world. I thank everyone who makes this possible. From the Insular High School of Quinchao, we will set an example for other regions and countries," said the communal authority.

Meanwhile, the director of the Bicentennial Insular High School of Achao, Osvaldo Ruiz, highlighted the role of education in promoting changes and preparing young people for an increasingly technological world, thanking the effort of all institutions in this initiative and the trust: "We feel privileged to be an educational institution where we can carry out this pilot project of healthy and sustainable schools. We appreciate the trust of all institutions. This will be vital to have healthier students, without chronic diseases that affect everyone's life."

Actions in Chile

In 2023, a diagnosis was carried out in the communes of Curaco de Vélez and Achao, located on Quinchao Island in Chiloé, to characterize the nutritional status, behaviors, and practices in food, physical activity, environmental care, and sociocultural aspects of student feeding. The initiative was carried out by the Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology of the University of Chile, with the support of the Active Aging programme.

"The Active Aging programme seeks to generate changes in the lifestyles of communities. Programmes like this that articulate the public and private sectors are the ones that will generate changes in the short term in the health of Chileans," explained Dr. Miguel Luis Berr, from the Clinical Hospital of the University of Chile.

The survey with 457 students revealed that 57.6% of students were overweight, with 25.5% overweight and 32.1% obese, figures higher than the national statistics for 2022. It was observed that elementary school students showed a higher proportion of overnutrition, with 83.3% in first grade, which is higher than the national average of 53.6% in 2022.

As for food during the school day, it was observed that 11% of students indicated double lunch, at school and at home, and 13.1% have the same practice at breakfast. 71.1% of students have money to buy food during the school day, where most purchase sugary drinks and juices (52.9%). In the snacks brought from home, healthier foods such as fruits predominate.

Considering the diagnosis, Dr. Nelly Bustos, from INTA, and Professor Moisés Sandoval, together with the educational community of the Bicentennial Insular High School of Achao, developed a model of intervention for healthy and sustainable schools that can be piloted in Achao with a view to being replicated nationwide. The work is based on the Sustainable Schools initiative. With this diagnosis, in the year 2024 the intervention is carried out at the Insular Bicentennial High School of Achao.

The director of INTA, Francisco Pérez, highlighted the importance of generating metrics and data from this experience, emphasizing the relevance of the agreement and joint actions that will be carried out on the island. "This project aims to generate information, impact, and social change. It is an extremely important synergy," he said.