SESAME WORKSHOP CELEBRATES WORLD HEART DAY IN BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA

Elmo and his Muppet friends from Plaza Sésamo stole the show at the World Heart Day celebration in Bogotá, Colombia, this year. The child-friendly event was organized through the Sesame Workshop/World Heart Federation project in Colombia that produces multimedia materials promoting healthy eating and exercise habits to pre-schoolers.

In the child-centred World Heart Day event, the Muppets of Plaza Sésamo helped show children just how much fun it can be to keep your heart healthy. In addition, guests had the opportunity to view a sneak preview of some of the films produced by the project for the upcoming season of Plaza Sésamo. Activities that were designed to encourage children to play actively and enjoy healthy foods included a reading of the Plaza Sésamo storybook Muévete! (Shake a Leg!) and a jump rope contest.

Targeting Colombia’s biggest killer

While the children had fun, the World Heart Federation and the Colombian Society of Cardiology explained to the press, health officials and education specialists attending the event why it is so crucial to highlight cardiovascular disease prevention in health education for young children.

Dr. Manuel Urina Triana, Secretary of the Colombian Society of Cardiology, emphasized the relevance of the project for Colombia.  "Cardiovascular disease is Colombia’s biggest killer," he said, pointing out that obesity and overweight are important risk factors. Forty per cent of Colombians are obese or overweight, with even higher rates for women.
 
Valentin Fuster, the World Heart Federation’s immediate Past President and coordinator of the programme, underlined the need for starting cardiovascular prevention early. “Eating and exercise patterns formed at early ages often stay with people for life, so if we want to influence the choices that will determine their chances for good heart health, then we need to intervene early,” he explained from New York.

Partnering to help shape health choices

The World Heart Federation and Sesame Workshop project produces live action and animated film segments that are aired around Latin America in Plaza Sésamo. The segments are produced in Colombia and portray Colombian children engaging in all kinds of fun and heart-healthy activities, including growing vegetables at home, folk dancing, choosing nutritious breakfasts and buying fruits and vegetables at an outdoor market; some of the animated segments were even designed by Colombian children. In its "outreach" component that broadens the reach of the project to pre-school classrooms, Sesame Workshop and World Heart Federation are working with local partners --  Colombian Society of Pediatrics, Colsubsidio and the Fundación Cardio Infantil --  to develop culturally appropriate educational outreach materials for Colombian children and their caregivers.
 
“We are proud to work with the World Heart Federation and its associates at the Colombian Society of Cardiology to encourage parents, schools and other community groups to help children set healthy goals that are culturally appropriate,” said Dana Kuperman, Sesame Workshop’s country director. “By creating content specifically designed to reach those at this most impressionable age, we stand a better chance of encouraging children to develop healthy lifestyle practices that they can take with them – hopefully into a healthy, happy adulthood.”

To see a sample of animation segments produced by the project, visit our web site.

For more information about Sesame Workshop's projects around the world, visit http://www.sesameworkshop.org/international/portal.php