The Noon Assembly utilizes an age-old custom and repurposes it to improve the Vitamin D status of children in India. It shifts the time of the traditional morning assembly in schools to around noon and provides students better sunlight exposure, at a time most suited for Vitamin D production in their bodies. With nearly 90% of children suffering from Vitamin D Deficiency (VDD), it is practically a zero-cost solution to such a huge public health problem in India.

The initiative kicked off with a joint meeting between various governmental and non-governmental stakeholders on ‘Strategies to combat Vitamin D Deficiency in Children’ at the FSSAI headquarters on March 05, 2018.

With the involvement of these stakeholders, the initiative was launched with a joint Noon Assembly on April 09, 2018 at the National Bal Bhavan, New Delhi. More than 600 students from around 25 schools participated in the launch event.

We reached out to children, parents, schools, and medical professionals through print ads in national dailies, noonassembly.in website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram handles of FSSAI, and noonassembly, school events, and clinic visits.

In less than a month since launch, local and national print, TV, and online media covered the initiative with nearly 200 stories and helped the Noon Assembly reach more than 50 schools in the country.

Noon Assembly got the nation talking about Vitamin D deficiency. So far, 33,000+ parents and 52+ Schools have supported it giving 50,000+ school students, 10,15,000+ ‘sun minutes.’ 750+ doctors were communicated the benefits of noon assembly using the HCP communication toolkit. Almost everyone recommended it. The campaign got nationwide coverage with around $2 Million+ in earned media. Kwality got positive reinforcement with the thousands of students and parents it reached through school programs.

With more than 175 stories covering the Noon Assembly in national and local dailies, within one month of launch the campaign reached around 7 million readers, along with digital coverage and prime time coverage in 9 TV channels.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is championing the Noon Assembly by making it a part of their nation-wide fortification drive under the Food Fortification Resource Centre (FFRC). Noon Assembly will be reaching out to more than 2000 schools nationwide where FFRC conducts regular nutrition and safety workshops. Kwality will make their fortified products available in these school's canteens, helping it get a nationwide presence. The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has already proposed a compulsory physical activity period and is considering to propose Noon Assembly as mandatory to all the 20000+ schools under its affiliation. The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) is also considering to make Vitamin D Deficiency, its impact and source a part of the curriculum.

India is facing a Vitamin D crisis. Nearly 90% of Indian children are suffering from its deficiency which may lead to lifelong bone weakness, lack of immunity, and lifestyle diseases. The problem is not many people are aware of Vitamin D deficiency and consequently not much is done to address the issue.

Noon Assembly is an initiative that brings Vitamin D deficiency into public discourse. It makes children, parents, medical professionals, and society at large aware of the seriousness of the situation and provides them with a simple, practical idea to increase the Vitamin D levels of a whole generation.

Noon Assembly’s message needed to reach out to parents, children, medical professionals, and policymakers.

We reached out to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), under Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, to help lead the initiative. With FSSAI on-board, Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD); educational boards Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE), National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT); school bodies New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), Municipal Corporation of North Delhi (North MCD); private schools; and NGOs Save The Children, Child Survival India, SEHEAC, GAIN, also joined.

We decided to be both national and local in our approach. National publications and electronic media helped us reach wide to a majority of our target audience. On the other hand, local events in schools and clinic visits helped gain support at the ground level.

Situation

Around 90% of children in India are suffering from a deficiency of Vitamin D. This deficiency can lead to lifelong bone weakness, reduced immunity, and risk of many lifestyle disorders. The general diet of Indians, being primality vegetarian is also low on Vitamin D. At Kwality Ltd. we know that fortification of our products is just one part of the solution. Fortified foods can meet only one-third of the daily requirements of vitamin D. Rest of its daily requirement must be met by exposure to sunlight for about 15 to 20 minutes, with the best time being 11 am to 1 pm.

Brief

To show Kwality’s commitment towards improving the health of Indian children.

Objectives

Launch an initiative that spreads awareness about Vitamin D deficiency in Indian children and come up with a simple, scalable, idea that helps improve their vitamin D levels in a meaningful, practical manner.