The '5 Colours Project', which promotes healthy eating, the Mediterranean diet and a healthy lifestyle among children and young people, has landed abroad and has already involved 14,000 students in 560 classes in Italy.
Thanks to the collaboration between the Farnesina, embassies and cultural institutes, 15 Italian schools abroad, including those in Paris, London, Madrid, Tirana, Athens, Casablanca, New York and Washington, have committed themselves to educating children about a healthy lifestyle.
The extension of the project, promoted by the Pancrazio Foundation, was presented today at the Farnesina. "The Mediterranean diet," Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said in a message, "is a capital of social practices, habits and gestures that the government is committed to defending and making known by strongly supporting the candidature of Italian cuisine as an intangible heritage of humanity. 'Teaching healthy eating habits to children and young people,' Tajani added, 'is a priority for me, a moral duty. Eating well is synonymous with health and well-being'. "This is why we wanted to take the 5 Colours Project abroad as well, and we started from Europe all the way to the United States.
Spreading the Mediterranean diet also means, according to Tajani, "stimulating a fundamental sector of our economy that is constantly growing and represents over 12% of our exports". Therefore, concluded Tajani, 'we want to bring more and more Italy into the world, also at school and also at the table'.
During the presentation of the project, the Farnesina's Secretary of State, Riccardo Guariglia, emphasised how 'certain Italian excellences, from the Mediterranean lifestyle to gastronomy, can become tools for promoting our country abroad'.
The 5 Colours Project, as explained by the President of the Pancrazio Foundation, Maria Teresa Carpino, began its journey in the schools of Campania, where the problem of overweight and obesity among children is most present, 'and was created to bring children closer to the consumption of fruit and vegetables' by involving the school and the family. Much has been done, but much still remains to be done, the president emphasised, if only 5% of the adult population in Italy still practice the Mediterranean diet.
'A diet,' explained Paralympic rowing athlete Giacomo Perini, 'that has been a cure for me. As a former cancer patient and a sportsman, I know that eating well is fundamental and means taking care of yourself'. The Italian Ambassador in Rabat, Armando Barucco, by video link, told how the Italian Mattei school in Casablanca has already adopted the 5 Colours Project and how, with the support of the Moroccan Ministry of Education, the value of family conviviality and child health care is emphasised in primary school classes. Finally, Enrico Letta highlighted the importance of educating children in good eating habits, in conscious eating, which are the quality of life.
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