ONE PLANET. ONE HEALTH

Living longer better, it’s never too early to nurture your health capital

20/07/2021

People aged 60 years and older now outnumber children under the age of 5. By 2050, 2 billion of the world’s population will be 60 or older (WHO). However, despite a greater life expectancy, healthy aging is not always a given. Beyond the absence of disease and disabilities, healthy ageing is about staying physically, mentally and socially active. That is the root of our belief in the importance of adequate nutrition and social interactions in living long healthy lives.

That’s why we want to contribute to both prevention and management of age-related conditions by addressing nutritional deficiencies, supporting functional abilities and fighting malnutrition in frail older adults.

As early as 2011, Danone Brazil launched the “Caring for the caregivers” program that aims to improve recognition and employability for caregivers, offering them a professional training and association. More generally, in the frame of the association, the program provides them a legal, medical and socio-cultural advice. To tackle the issue of population ageing rapidly and needing appropriate care, partners have joined forces.

A nurse helping an elderly woman to walk

Danone Ecosystem, Danone’s subsidiary Nutricia Brazil and the Observatory of Human Longevity and Ageing empower nurses and doctors to transform Brazil’s healthcare system by raising awareness in government of the relevance of home care from medical and economic standpoints.

The issue of frailty is already addressed in different countries.

In 2016, Danone Netherlands decided to develop, test, and implement services that help to protect the elderly’s health and quality of life with the “Best Frailty Care” initiative. Danone Ecosystem, Danone’s subsidiary Nutricia Netherlands, Philips, ONVZ Health insurance and the not-for-profit organization Veiligheid NL have joined forces to contribute to strengthening older persons’ physical ability and reducing the risk of falls, and empowering nurses and physical therapists by educating them on the best practices to reduce falls and injuries.

Danone France, Danone Ireland, and Danone Spain have respectively launched

“Bien Vieillir”,
“Ageing Well”,
and “ActiVIDA”

programs at the beginning of the last decade to face new challenges related to ageing populations.

Danone Ecosystem, Nutricia’s French, Spanish and Irish divisions and Siel Bleu Foundation (France) grouped to prevent malnutrition and accidents among older people, helping them to maintain their autonomy and improve their life and quality of life. 273,000 older people have been sensitized to adapted nutrition and physical exercise and 1040 physical educators were trained.

Many of these programs have become independent from Danone but continue to support people as they age, with the aim to contribute to building more “blue zones” in the world, i.e. regions where people live long healthy lives.

Learn more about our programmes

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