Unicef enlist 1,000 Scottish kids to take part in scheme to raise money for malnourished children while getting fit

A thousand primary 6 pupils in Scotland have been given a fitness monitor as part of a fundraising fitness project led by international children’s aid charity Unicef.

The wearable band will monitor the children’s physical activity over the day.

For every 2,400 steps taken, they are awarded with a ‘Kid Power Point’. These points are then converted through funding from the Scottish Government into life-saving food for malnourished children in Malawi and Pakistan.

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Twenty-five schools are taking part in the initial four-week pilot, which if successful could lead to Kid Power being rolled out further in the future.

It is hoped the initiative will encourage children to be more active.

Mark Devlin, chief operating officer at Unicef UK, said: “Malnutrition is responsible for nearly half of deaths of children under five and globally one in four children are stunted, which equates to around 159 million children worldwide. Unicef Kid Power seeks to address this issue by getting children to be part of the solution to end malnutrition by getting active themselves.”

Nicola Ferguson, head teacher at Woodlands Primary School in Cumbernauld, which was visited by ministers this morning, said pupils had been enthusiastic about the pilot.

She said “This has been a very worthwhile pilot and we are keen to embed this within our work, we are already planning on how the rest of the classes can be involved once the initial pilot is over.

“As a level 2 Rights Respecting School this has strengthened our links with Unicef and our commitment to the promotion of children’s rights which underpins the ethos and day to day work of our school.”