KidStrong

KidStrong – building a brighter future for migrant children

In 2006, Shanghai Roots & Shoots launched KidStrong – building a brighter future for migrant children. The program is a multi-faceted，interactive and sustainable approach that targets migrant children’s health, nutrition and education needs.

Shanghai Roots & Shoots currently works with four migrant elementary schools around Shanghai to introduce a holistic health/hygiene/nutrition curriculum to the schools which includes a positive emphasis on nutrition, health, hygiene and dental hygiene. The student population of the six schools is about 5,000.

Children of the migrant working population of Shanghai have no access to these topics, and the R&S curriculum is critical to their health and growth. Through Shanghai Roots & Shoots all of these children are educated on the importance of good nutrition and healthy eating habits.  It was through the annual medical background information gathering that we determined the basic needs to be addressed by KidStrong: poor eyesight, poor dental health, and that the basic diet of the students was protein deficient. Shanghai R&S trains volunteers from universities and communities, using a published curriculum, to teach health lessons including hygiene and nutrition in each school, guaranteeing that the message of healthy growing is taught in every class, every year.

KidStrong’s aim is to help migrant children to have healthy lives by offering supplemental support for migrant schools. Shanghai R&S strives to ensure that short-term obstacles do not impede children from reaching their potential life goals and maximize their performance to revitalize learning in school.

KidStrong program uses preventative health care measures including

• Delivering personal hygiene and health education lessons;
• Offering dental check-ups and providing free treatment to the children who are in need of treatment;
• Giving eye exams and prescription eyeglasses to children in need of vision correction;
• Supplying hygiene kits regularly, including tooth brush and tooth paste;
• Supporting financial aid for unprivileged children each semester;
• Celebrating festivals with migrant children，like World Health Day, National Eye Care Day, National Dental Care Day, World Sight Day, and Global Hand-Washing Day.

If you want to find out more information about this program, please contact Catharine Gong at catharine@srschina.org