Alaska Celebrates First Ever World Milk Day in the Philippines

(From Official Press Release) June 1 is World Milk Day!  As the leading milk company in the Philippines that provides Filipino families superior and affordable nutrition, Alaska Milk Corporation spearheads the first ever celebration of World Milk Day in the country.

The Alaska World Milk Day provides a great opportunity to reinforce importance of drinking milk and healthy lifestyle and bring it at the forefront of consumer awareness. And with the series of exciting activities lined up for the World Milk Day, Alaska Milk encourages children and adults alike to get into the habit of drinking milk and engage into sports activities to achieve optimum health.

Allow us to share with you some alarming health problems.  Nutrition disorders such as malnutrition and obesity are particularly rampant with children. They interfere with the child’s growth and development which could lead to serious health problems. Based on a 2008 survey of the World Health Organization (WHO), more than one in ten adults are obese. Obesity and being overweight are the fifth leading risk for global deaths. And what is alarming is that even children are experiencing overweight issues as nearly 43 million children are overweight based 2010 WHO data.

In another study conducted by the  Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI), a survey was initially conducted among Pre-school children, adolescents, adults, pregnant and lactating mothers. The objectives were to assess the nutritional status of 0-10 years old children, 11-19 years olds, pregnant and lactating women, and other adults 20 years and over using anthropometric indicators of growth and to compare results from previous surveys.  Again, results show that there is a problem on malnutrition which is a condition resulting from lack of or excess of one or more essential nutrients.

Common nutritional problems of Filipino children include protein-energy malnutrition, iron deficiency anemia, vitamin A deficiency disorders and iodine deficiency disorders. Side by side with these forms of undernutrition is overnutrition.

So how can we assure that our children are well-nourished?  One must never skip breakfast and a good breakfast is one that provides about 1/3 of the total energy and nutrient requirements of the child. Children should be encouraged to drink milk with a well-balanced breakfast combined with physical activities like walking, running, dancing, swimming, housework and sports in and out of school.

June 2013 marks the milestone of the first-ever Alaska World Milk Day.  Various exciting activities were lined-up to celebrate and promote good health!  The celebration kicked off last  June 1 with the Alaska IronKids Run Race in SM Mall Of Asia (IMAX Parking Area) and the Alaska World Milk Day Sampling in Glorietta Malls.  June 9 witnessed Alaska World Milk Day Family Run where more than 3,000 participants raced at 3k, 5k, 10k.  As early as 4am, families gathered at the Bonifacio Global City in preparation for the run.  Families ran and crossed the finish line together making the event a great family bonding opportunity! 

Aside from the race, children also had fun in the booths and activity area such as the inflatable, trampoline and joust. The 10k category proved to be more challenging as the race course included the Buendia flyover.More than 3,000 participated in the fun run which translated to a donation of more than 3,000 packs of Alaska Powdered Milk Drink to the Children’s Hour which was represented by Ms. Mikki Montenegro, Marketing and Communications Associate of Children’s Hour.  As in previous events, there was also the Alaska milk moustache photo shoot where everyone eagerly participated in.  

The success of the Alaska World Milk Day celebrations were made possible  with the support of Ayala Malls, Solar Sports, Basketball TV, Solar News, Akari nxled, Glorietta, Gatorade, Downy, BGC, Walter Bread, and Maynilad and Children’s Hour as the beneficiary.

For more information about Alaska World Milk Day, visit www.alaskamilk.com, www.alaskaworldmilkday.com. For live tweets and updates follow us at @ALASKAsportshub