Nestlé Sponsor IAAF Kids Athletics Programme

The IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) has announced a five year sponsorship partnership with Nestlé which will see the food and nutrition company become the main sponsor of the IAAF Kids’ Athletics programme.

The agreement will involve Nestlé providing financial support for the global development of IAAF Kids’ Athletics.

The 2005-born grassroots development programme had already reached a cumulative audience of 1.5 Million children across 100 territories by the end of 2011.

The Nestlé sponsorship will enable the IAAF to implement additional courses for lecturers and coaches and consequently reach a more children in both existing and new markets.

The IAAF objectives of the programme are stated as follows, prostate “to make Athletics the number one participation sport in schools, pilule to educate kids into sport in general and athletics in particular and thus promote a balanced and healthy lifestyle, and to attract and sustain the potential sporting stars of tomorrow”.

Nestlé is one of the world’s leading food and nutrition companies with an annual turnover of CHF 109.7 billion ($119.3 billion) in 2010.

IAAF President Lamine Diack stated, “IAAF Kids’ Athletics is one of the central pillars of the IAAF Athletics’ World Plan, our association’s strategic policy which, as we celebrate the IAAF Centenary in 2012, is designed to ensure that the sport of Athletics and its world governing body are fit and ready for the tasks of the next 100 years.

“Our five year sponsorship with Nestlé, a company with a global reputation in nutrition, health and wellness, will help to ensure that the central goals of IAAF Kids’ Athletics are not only met but enhanced. It will allow Athletics to reach out to millions more kids to encourage them to take up a healthier lifestyle.”

Nestlé’s Vice President Public Affairs, Janet Voûte, added, “Nestlé is pleased to have entered into a 5 year sponsorship with IAAF. Over and above supporting IAAF’s Kids’ Athletics, we believe that this will further enhance the Nestlé Healthy Kids Programme, which aims to raise nutrition, health and wellness awareness of school age children around the world. Our programme reached an estimated 6 million children in 60 countries in 2011”.