NutritionVista has announced the winners for the Nationwide Essay writing contest on Nutrition for Children, which was being conducted for the past 2 months. Chief guest for the evening honorable Mr. L. K. Advani, Leader of the opposition, Lok Sabha, honoured the two Grand prize winners of the contest Mr. Ojasvi Goel of Vasant Valley school, New Delhi (9-12 yrs age group) and Ms. Nitika Khaitan of Convent of Jesus and Mary (13-16 yrs age group) and gave away prize money of Rs. 40,000 each with medals at his residence on Sunday evening.

With the support of Dr. Kamala Krishnaswamy, the recently ex-president of the NIN, and ex director of the Nutrition Society of India, as the contests chairperson, the one and a half months campaign (starting 1st July – till 15th August 2008) registered an enthusiastic participation of about 296 schools nationwide. A sum of Rs. 3,00,000 shall be distributed amongst the winners including 9 regional winners who would be given prize money of Rs. 20,000 to each winning student and to each of their corresponding schools. Top 200 entries would be given certificates of participation from NutritionVista.

In anattempt to create nutritional awareness amongst children in India, the campaign was conceptualized and initiated by NutritionVista in order to focus children’s attention on the importance of Health and Nutrition in their growth and development. Congratulating children participants, their schools and parents on their contribution towards the success of the campaign Ms. Mrinal Jhangiani, Managing Director, NutritionVista said, “We are very proud of these children who have made a tremendous effort to, research, write, edit, and upload their essays, but have also gone to great lengths in involving their parents and teachers as well. We at NutritionVista aim tohave a sustainable impact on the future of children's nutrition and health in India. This campaign was successful in grabbing the attention of everyone with recognition of achievement and monetary rewards to the winning children and their schools. I would also like to thank our associates i.e. Disney Adventures and ICS for their support towards the campaign." She further added, “It has been observed that nearly 50% of children in India are suffering from Malnutrition and health related problems like anemia, this initiative is our first commitment towards spreading awareness on Nutrition. By involving children in this debate, we have successfully moved forward in reaching out to their extended families, on the importance of healthy eating and moderate exercise.”

Present on the occasion and associate of the campaign Ms. Amrita Ganguly-Salian, Editor, Disney Adventures said, “Being the only lifestyle children’s magazine in India, we closely follow the behavioral patterns in children. Hence, we support the concerns that Nutrition Vista has brought to the fore whole-heartedly. We know first-hand that the best-intended information works with children only when it is packaged in the right format. This essay contest was a brilliant idea to spread the message to children across the country.”

The evening ended with recitation of the top two winning essays, and a couple of regional essays by the children themselves. Children and parents from various states and cities of India were present to receive the recognition from NutritionVista.

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About NutritionVista:

NutritionVista was founded on the basic premise that for most working adults access to healthy eating and weight management is not only time consuming but also unreliable.

To meet this unmet need, NutritionVista offers a convergence of both online and off-line tools built around the services of their well-trained dieticians who are certified by the Indian and/or American Dietetic Associations (IDA, ADA) respectively. A US based company now with an Indian presence, NutritionVista brings the latest in health assessments and innovative tools that will help consumers get better guidance, training and support on nutrition and related health issues.