On the occasion of Whole Grain Sampling Day 2022 on 30 March, PepsiCo India expanded its flagship initiative ‘Bowl of Hope’, aimed at creating awareness about whole grains and their importance in daily diets.

Aligned with FFSAI’s Eat Right Movement, PepsiCo India through its brand Quaker and in partnership with Smile Foundation is providing over one lakh nutritious bowls of whole grains to underserved communities across the country.

To mark the Whole grain Sampling Day, a special education programe was organised for school children at Santulan Bhavan in Pune, Maharashtra.

One-third of preschool children and adolescent girls in India are anaemic as per National Institute of Nutrition and 35.3% are stunted as per National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 2019-21.

Special educational videos, presentations and street plays were organised to create awareness around the importance of whole grains at the event. Further, on the occasion, whole grains were distributed to children and special nutritious recipes with oats were also curated and served.

Shilpa Shirole, President – Indian Dietetics Association President (Pune Chapter) said, “Prolonged nutritional deficiency among kids leave them small for their age. Undernourished kids also fall sick often and it impacts the overall growth. Kids need a healthy balanced diet from each food group to get wide range o