Children in Qicai Kindergarten make afternoon snacks in Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, central China's Hunan Province, June 26, 2024. (Xinhua/Lin Jianjie)

Scooping mashed sweet potato into a crispy cone and sprinkling diced melon as toppings, kids in the Qicai Kindergarten are making sweet potato "ice cream," paired with bottled milk for a nutritious afternoon snack.

This kindergarten in central China's Hunan Province is a pioneer in providing nutritious meals to rural preschoolers, supported by subsidies and menus from a pilot nutrition program initiated by the UN World Food Programme (WFP).

"Over 80 percent of our kids are 'left-behind children' raised by their grandparents as their parents are working in cities," said headmaster Xiang Haiyan. "The elderly guardians often lack nutrition knowledge. That's where kindergartens can play a role."

Since 2018, the WFP has teamed up with the provincial government of Hunan to carry out the two-phased preschool nutrition improvement program in the mountainous Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, providing nutritious school meals, promoting health awareness, upgrading kitchen facilities and sourcing food from local farmers.

The second phase of the program, which focused on building a sustainable support system for preschool children, ended last month, covering 4,365 children in 27 local kindergartens, according to a review session held this week.

The evaluation shows that the children's overall nutrition status has improved with the intervention, with the prevalence of stunting, in particular, declining from 8.52 percent to 2.82 percent.

The program provided a subsidy of 4 yuan (about 57 U.S. cents) per child per day and required the kindergartens to provide breakfast, lunch and afternoon snacks, with no fewer than 25 kinds of food served every week based on the dietary guidance.

Teachers and students of preschool education at the Xiangxi-based Normal College of Jishou University helped develop the menus incorporating seasonal local ingredients.

"In the later stage of the program, teachers from many kindergartens started developing menus by themselves and we provided feedback," said Wu Feng'e, a lecturer at the university, noting that preschool teachers in the program now have a deeper understanding of what a balanced diet looks like.

Meanwhile, the program linked school meals with local agricultural production. During the second phase of the program, 157 smallholder farmers participated in the food supply, helping generate more than 1.43 million yuan of income.

For three consecutive years, Li Hongnian has supplied food to Shaping Kindergarten, where his two grandchildren are taken care. The 68-year-old farmer said that under the program he was provided with organic fertilizer and seeds each semester.

"I've been a farmer my whole life. I'm glad to see my grandchildren grow healthier and stronger eating what I've planted with my own hands," Li said.

"Nutritious meals are not just food on the plate, but also an investment in the future generation," said WFP China representative Zhao Bing, adding that the WFP will share the practical experience gained from this program with other countries.