Your Health First praised by sports stars

The partnership between Sahtak Awalan – Your Health First and the Supreme Committee of Delivery and Legacy’s Generation Amazing initiative was praised by a World Cup winning Brazilian footballer and a renowned Qatari sports commentator.

Gilberto da Silva and Mohammed Saadon Al Kuwari visited Your Health First and Generation Amazing’s installation at Katara, which is in place as part of WISH’s Doha Healthcare Week.

Your Health First brought the Yalla Natural roadshow to the event, teaching children about the importance of healthy eating and exercise to their lives, while Generation Amazing installed a pop-up football pitch on which visiting children were able to play a game.

A lucky ten children also had the chance to play a game with Gilberto and Mohammed, with both men praising the work that Your Health First and Generation Amazing are doing in instilling a culture of health and exercise among young people. 

Nesreen Al-Rifai, Chief Communications Officer at Weill Cornell Medicine - Qatar, which developed Your Health First, praised the partnership with Generation Amazing, which has been such a resounding success.

She said: “Working together we have brought real benefits to the community, and particularly to our young people. I am sure that one of the legacies of the 2022 FIFA World Cup will be a fit and healthy population able to meet the challenges of Qatar National Vision 2030.”

Gilberto, who held the World Cup trophy aloft with his Brazilian teammates in 2002, said: “It’s good to have two organizations like Your Health First and Generation Amazing working together to support children and I’m sure it will be very important and valuable for the kids, giving them good health advice and introducing them to football.”

Mohammed, who is also a former professional tennis player, social media influencer and an ambassador for the Supreme Committee, said that since Qatar won the right to host the FIFA World Cup, there has been a real drive to ensure that the event has a real and lasting legacy for the nation.

He added: “I think similar initiatives to Your Health First are needed; everyone should play their role. Corporate social responsibility has become huge worldwide but most entities are not doing what they claim but Your Health First is a real example of what the community needs and it’s always great to see this kind of partnership and cooperation with Generation Amazing.”

Hundreds of schoolchildren were invited to visit the installation at Katara, with the young students able to team up and play football and learn new skills on Generation Amazing’s football pitch.

Eight-year-old Jana Eid, of Zeinab bint Jaish School, said she had learned more about healthy foods and had made her own healthy smoothie on the blender bikes.

Her head teacher, Reem Hawash, said: “Yalla Natural gets them to understand the basics of healthy food and activity. This will stay with them forever.”

Your Health First is the flagship health initiative of Weill Cornell Medicine - Qatar and is supported by partnerships with Qatar Foundation, the Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, the Ministry of Municipality and Environment, Occidental Petroleum, ExxonMobil and the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy.