 So first of all, I would like to this session It's on a regional look at health and wellness in Latin America and today I'm joined by Becky Johnson executive director at Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation and by Mary Rollins senior vice president at Discovery Education and Today, we're going to be looking at an issue that's usually not addressed in Latin America A lot of time when health is in the news it is about epidemics like Zika But we don't talk about the uncommon crisis like obesity So Mary, can you give us a little bit of the Latin American context of this issue and what this initiative is trying to tackle and address? So if you don't mind, I think I'll take that rather than Mary I'm not gonna pressure Discovery Education to talk about that But as many of us know the prevention of non-communicable diseases is important for both developed and developing economies these diseases Threaten public health The healthcare system and take a steep toll on individual and collective productivity and then also economic development Which is why it's no surprise that the world economic form on Latin America has future health as one of their pillars What we need to do is we need to ensure access to quality and affordable health care For individuals across Latin America and really around the world And we also need to find ways to improve health and wellness and prevent those diseases that are avoidable for so many people So the Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation is based in the US We were founded in 2009 around the premise of really looking to provide solutions to this problem We're a broad based not-for-profit organization that has partners from The food and beverage industry public health non government organizations And a variety of other other aspects. We also work with Discovery Education, which is a wonderful partner But we wanted to create a plan To provide parents and children With the products tools and information that they needed to build healthy habits across a lifetime So today the coalition has grown from 21 founding members to over 300 organizations that partnered with us one of the most important Innovative programs that we developed is the Together Counts program. This was done in partnership with Discovery Education and Discovery Education is the global leader in standards-aligned digital content They also have the largest professional learning Community of their of its kind Since launching the Together Counts program, we've reached more than 35 million students in the US It's been very successful. We did an impact study where teachers said that 90% of them saw positive changes in their students around making healthier nutrition choices adding more physical activity to their week and then also Increasing the understanding of balancing food and activity On a daily basis So we wanted to bring that to Latin America So today I'm thrilled to announce that a new organization is being created the Latin American commitment to a healthy future The program will build on the success of the Together Counts program that we've implemented across the US and we will first launch in Colombia It's exciting. We actually launched today and those materials are available on co.huntoscontamos.com But these materials will be pushed out through Discovery in Las Cuelas, which is Discovery's partner throughout Latin America and We created customized health and wellness school curriculum that helps students and their families make healthy decisions and Better understand the importance of those decisions in the broader context of individual family and community health and wellness goals These online educational resources are free We really give them away for free and students and families across Colombia and soon additional countries will be able to use them So we're proud to partner with Discovery in Las Cuelas that's in 17 countries throughout Latin America They've reached over 2 million students and are in over 30,000 schools in the coming months We'll be announcing that we're expanding into Mexico potentially Brazil and other countries But additionally the Latin American commitment to a healthy future is also going to have another website Where we know that there are other people out there who are engaging in health and wellness programming And we're looking for them to partner with us and we want to share those programs And also our current partners are already doing a lot in this area and we want to promote what's going on So we encourage you to visit that site as well The program is going to be evaluated and adapted to maximize success and also explore Additional innovative marketplace and educational initiatives that support healthy eating patterns and more physical activity for consumers The Latin American commitment to a healthy future is a multi sector initiative that includes the support of private industry and Not-for-profit organizations including PepsiCo the Coca-Cola company Coca-Cola FEMSA and post-a-bond We also have additional supporters throughout the region that are looking at joining as well But at the crux of it all we really believe every child deserves the opportunity To live an active healthy lifestyle and we want to help provide the tools to make that possible throughout this entire region But we also know we can't do it alone So we encourage other organizations to join us in this effort because we would like to build a similar coalition to what we have in the US throughout Latin America Wonderful, so now I'm gonna ask Mary this time to basically explain as The senior vice president of discovery education. How and why did you get involved in this initiative? Thank you, and thank you Becky for your ongoing partnership We've worked together for six years in the US Developing tools and resources for schools and we've really made a difference and here we are we're here sitting in Colombia Live and in person and it's really exciting to be here and it's an exciting week at Discovery because it's our birthday 31 years ago Discovery Channel was founded and our chairman was from a university at the University of Maryland And he believed that knowing that people are curious and people want to connect with others and learn He believed that media could do more than just entertain that media and digital product could actually bring people together It could inform enlighten and educate and so shortly after Discovery was born Discovery education was born and shortly after that I came on to the team and began to work with partners such as healthy weight commitment Foundation Discovery education is now more than 20 years old and we're the largest provider of global digital content and In schools around the globe we provide content teacher training We provide digital textbooks and many other resources that are all aligned to standards and in concert with various governmental organizations ministers of education and so forth our Work now has broadened beyond the US We now are available in 50 countries with a variety of different products and partners along the way we reach We reach 1.3 million teachers this number keeps growing so I have to check my old brain 1.3 million teachers and through 30 million students every day through our global reach So these are folks that are going online. They're looking for content They're looking for ways to engage today's learners and they're able to satisfy their curiosity and really transform the way They're teaching and reaching kids Discovery and last quail has started 20 years ago And we've been working everywhere from Argentina all the way to schools that border the US and Mexico We work training teachers helping teachers have access to our video content and Developing lesson plans curricula and so forth. It's an excellent program. Many of the schools here in Colombia are using discovery on La escuela it's free to them to use So when Becky approached us about partnering with this initiative and we were brought together in dialogue with our partners It made a lot of sense for us to get involved and really begin to dig into what made the most sense in Colombia and in Latin America So in developing juntos cantamos, we the first thing we did as we did in the US is reach out to teachers They know what they need. They know how the system works They the first thing they told us is don't just create a bunch of new stuff Create materials that's going to fit into our existing curricula that's matched to the standards that they're obligated to teach and So we developed a series of lesson plans Activities there are handouts and materials for parents and all of this will be supplemented with professional development We've found in the US and everywhere we work It really isn't enough just to provide free content. It's it's teachers are the busiest professionals there are and the hardest working I might say and They just don't have time for something that's additive. So we make it easy. We make it free It's available, of course in Spanish and will be teacher will be training teachers both in person and through webinars Lots of teachers love webinars. Many of them are using their mobile phones to connect just using live stream So we're just getting started if you go on to the website right now You'll see a wonderful assortment of lessons activities and parent materials. It will grow We're developing some interactive materials almost game-like experiences experiences for kids We're also developing videos. We know that often people look to discovery for excellent trusted videos And so we'll be adding videos to the site as well So we're very excited. We know that this is an important topic. We know it's part of the broader conversation about Columbia's role and really it's it's thought leadership as a country as a nation emerging We're very happy to be part of that and we're honored to be partnering here with you today. Thank you So now that we have a context of the initiative I'd like to actually invite Experts business leaders who are part of this initiative and are part of the coalition Who made this happen? So I'd like to invite Mr. John Santa Maria I would like to invite Miguel Fernando Escobar and Mr. Lexam Nara singham and I apologize for the pronunciation of the name so to get us started in the Conversation, I would like to ask mr. Nara see him and you might need to pronounce your name again. I apologize for the viewers on live stream But before you do that, could you let us know? Why did you choose? Columbia as the launch country of this initiative Sure, Mr. Deneke I'm Lakshman Narasimhan. I run the Latin America business for PepsiCo This is a terrific initiative and it's great to be over here on stage obviously with you Becky and with you from discovery as well Thank you for everything you folks do and it's great to be on the same stage as well with our bottling partner poster bond and with our Colleagues from from the Coca-Cola company We chose Columbia because Columbia is a very important country for us It is it is a regional hub as part as part of our ND in business And what we find is that you know, we've been in this country for over 60 years And part of what we do in this place is we get very engaged with the local communities We think it's an incredibly important aspect of our business It fits in with what we define as being our sort of long-term vision for the company Which is performance with purpose Where what we try and do is ensure that we deliver top-tier financial performance But integrate sustainability very much into the business and our aspiration is to leave a positive imprint on society We are completely committed to addressing issues around health and wellness that the sector faces as a priority and What we'd like to do collectively with our colleagues is ensure that we play a positive role in helping Colombians and the rest of Latin America lead healthier lives Thank you Mr. Santa Maria as the executive chief executive officer at PepsiCo Can you let us know what you believe will be the impact of this initiative on the region? I think we got the company wrong. I am the chief executive officer of Coca-Cola, Fempsum It's a little bit different than what Laxm does But we do compete And So you're getting the records straight and I think this is a great initiative I think it's you know for us to be on the same stage together collaborating and making sure that We're bringing social and economic and environmental value to our communities is probably the biggest Contribution a company can make and we had the Coca-Cola company and I also had the Coca-Cola Fempsum believe it fully That these are the kind of things that we have to do together We're here not competing as we usually do we're here collaborating we collaborate because we believe that An initiative like this Starts and ends or any kind of business or any type of society or any betterment that you have ends with a sustainable consumer a sustainable society and if we do not prevent the illnesses that we know that are going to harm our future or And harm our environment or you know these things are going to go out there and be bad business But it's also going to be a bad planet and that's not something we want to do so this initiative asked actually allows us to go out and put in a platform together and I appreciate being a partner with DE and partner with healthy weight and allows us to go out there and start reaching people on an initial basis and Start educating them as to why they have to change and how they have to change And it's such an in complex factor, you know in terms of obesity There's so many things people need to do that Colombia is probably one of the best Countries that I can see today of starting because today Colombia is starting to have a enormous amount of Momentum an enormous amount of openness and a moment enormous enormous amount of change That is going to put them at the forefront if they're not there already For Latin America, so we're very excited about partnering with Pepsico with post of on with a Coca-Cola company with a healthy weight Commitment and also discovery education to be able to do this Thank you now. Hopefully I will not mess up the last one. It's my last chance So the last business leader we have is mr. Miguel Fernando Escobar Who's the president at post of on My question for you is What do you envision for as the future of this initiative? When I start this you said it very well. Thank you. First of all, I want to say thank you to the colleagues our partner Pepsico for allow us to be part of this Awesome program also to the health in my commitment and discovery education because for post on This is not new, but it's a real different versus what we have done over the last 50 years post of on or the last many decades have been supporting all kind of social activities to really transform help our society to improve to grow with us and We have so many initiatives through different disciplines to really help kids to make progress to transform their lives But today we're really fine in this firm something that really tackle the issue Which is education to work with means with education. We're going to really start seeing The needle to move to the right position We're blaming many causes of this healthy situation this obesity And we're convinced that we're not facing the the problem as we should So for post on is a real honor and proud to be part of this program Postal one will make all the efforts We can put together in order to make this progress. We have big expectations to really support and Again transform our lives of our kids in the first communities where the problem is I want also to Mention that is not just our problem. So we really want to invite Government other oanges and other industries to really join this program because this is not exclusive of the soft drink industry Is many people that should be? Join this activity to really see a substantial and tangible progress So before I open the floor for a question I would also like to note that we have an additional expert in the room Mr. Rafael Fernandez Kiranos who is the Latin VP of public affairs and communication at Coca-Cola So is there any questions from? Please state your name and your organization Roberto back on the Medellin Herald the elephant in the room is you all sell sugary drinks So how does that square with a health initiative when all those sugary products are? One of the main reasons why there's so much obesity, especially in the Latin America Lemonary your name again is Roberto and nice to meet you. How are you? I think you know obesity is something that you is a multi-factor disease If you think about and it depends on where you want to look at this in Mexico where we there is a problem in society there is a growing obesity level the average Mexican goes out there and Consumes about 3,000 calories a day, okay? And when you start looking at what carbonated beverages Sugared beverages are as a proportion of the exceeding amount of calories is only 5% So when you think you know about Columbia and you start seeing Columbia and the per capita consumption in Columbia of carbonated soft drinks or sugared beverages It's a third of what the Mexican Industry has so in Columbia It's you know, it's not a problem in terms of you know going out there as in terms of consumption as let's say Mexico is And in Mexico, it's not a problem here is just making sure that it doesn't become one Again, what we do as a as corporations as offer also a lot of different types of portfolio of beverages we go from water To light drinks, you know and in our portfolio about 40% of our beverages are also You know, you know, they do not have any caloric content in it. So, you know, there's we're shaping choice We're giving the consumer a broader appeal of portfolios and also, you know We're giving them from from hydration all the way to nutrition now. Okay in terms of our choices So I think you know, you know when we say that the elephant in the room is there I think you have to step back and say yes, we contribute to somewhat of the problem But the problem is a lot bigger than just beverages If I could just add one thing to the very eloquent answer that John just gave I think part of this program is also educating consumers about what they are choosing to do and That is one of the things we also really like is the fact that there is a big education component to this There is transparency And at the end of the day consumers are much more informed when they make the choices they make that's why we like this program a lot Well, and I would just add that this is one of many things that these companies are doing these companies have committed to Not to advertise to children under the age of 12 They've also committed to removing Full calorie beverages from schools And so this is one of many things and as we've learned in the US That's what we need. It can't just be one thing. There's no one Solution to the problem of obesity Which is why we need a broad coalition of people to come together and we need diverse ideas to work together on this problem Because as John mentioned they are they are 5% of consumption. So and the obesity problem is not You know just a 5% problem So it's I think it's also looking at it in the broader context of the other efforts that they are taking on But this will be an important part of that in educating the consumers And just in terms of I don't believe I spoke to what the focus of the curriculum is for kids It's about healthy choices and establishing healthy habits And one thing we know and research shows is that the earlier kids get into healthy habits the more likely they are to keep them throughout their Lifetime so this program isn't about what's good. What's bad. It's about Giving kids an understanding of how food and physical activity relate but more broadly It's about helping kids understand the importance of making good choices in the foods you eat in the way You live in the amount of sleep you get in your socio-emotional Health it's all of that. So just wanted to give that context So we're gonna take one more question from the room seems like we've answered all of your questions I'd like to thank oh and I'd like to thank the viewers on live stream and definitely all of our experts Who joined us today are panelists. Thank you very much for launching this initiative at the world economic forum Thank you for attending