Nutrition Olympiad fostering youth leadership in nutrition

"Let the Youth Lead to Build Nutrition Enriched Digital Bangladesh" is the theme for Nutrition Olympiad 2020, an annual conclave for adolescents and youth to improve societal nutritional status. Adolescents and youth are the biggest portion of Bangladesh population who need special attention to ensure their wellbeing and health needs to explore their full potential. Nutrition Olympiad is the platform for the adolescents and youth to discuss, share, learn and contribute in the nutrition domain. BIID Foundation pursuing engagement engaging youth and adolescents in the development and implementation in food security and nutrition policy.

The Nutrition Olympiad 2020, the fourth of a series of annual competitions was held on 26 December 2020. This year because of COVID-19 pandemic, the Olympiad was held over online platform. The Olympiad is building on the success of the previous Olympiads of 2017 to 2019. Nutrition Clubs (NC) are being established and grassroots initiatives are expanding to address malnutrition, 'National Steering Committee on Nutrition Clubs', a newly formed central committee is also being built to follow up the progress. Government, academia, development agencies and private sector partners are collaborating for organizing the Nutrition Olympiad 2020.

The voices of youth and adolescents from around 4,500 secondary schools, universities and colleges are reaching out to disseminate nutrition messages. The NCs serve as a forum for youth and adolescents to foster knowledge on nutrition, practice good food habits, and share experiences with peers, families and communities. 

The overall objective of the Nutrition Olympiad 2020 is "To provide a platform for youth and adolescents to exchange knowledge, demonstrate and challenge knowledge on nutrition and build networks with food security, nutrition and health experts, policymakers, development partners, private sector, media, international and national organizations, and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) working on nutrition." Nutrition Olympiad 2020 brought together youth and adolescents, nutrition, agriculture and health experts, policymakers, the development community, and the private sector, to work together on a common platform for nutrition.