KUCHING: More than 7,000 people thronged the Sarawak Stadium for the 6th Milo Malaysia Breakfast Day yesterday. 3,600 runners were seen warming up around 6am, getting themselves ready for the 3Km Milo Run at 6.30am. The run was flagged off by North Kuching City Commission (DBKU) Mayor, Datuk Haji Abang Abdul Wahap Haji Abang Julai.
The nationwide campaign, held for the fourth time in Kuching, kicked off at its first destination in Kuching yesterday, and will be held in six other locations across Malaysia, namely, Kota Kinabalu (July 8), Kuantan (July 15), Pulau Pinang (July 22), Johor Bahru (July 28), Kota Bahru (August 4), and lastly Putrajaya (August 11 and 12). Milo targets the participation of over 80,000 people from the seven locations. According to Milo Business Unit, Nestle (Malaysia) Berhad, Consumer Marketing Manager April Wong, the campaign, which started in 2013, aims to encourage and inculcate the habit of healthy breakfast eating.
“We know that Sarawak has the lowest incidence of breakfast consumption in Malaysia, which is a cause of concern for both adults and children,” she said. Wong added it was quite alarming that in Malaysia, at least one out of four children skipped breakfast three times in a week.
She said that breakfast was the most important meal of the day and eating a healthy breakfast in the morning improved concentration, mood, and performance. “We want to encourage both parents and children to have a balanced breakfast paired with a cup of Milo, which contains the natural goodness of malt, milk, and cocoa that helps efficiently release the energy from food,” she said. Wong added as part of the campaign, besides the run, a number of other events and activities were also held, including a futsal match, a Zumba session, table tennis, bamboo dances as well as a basketball match. These activities were organised to lead more people towards healthier living.
“This is one way for us to continue to engage consumer not just by having advertisement but making sure we walk the talk, conduct the activities and bring the people closer to us,” she said.
When asked about plans to increase their campaign to more destinations, Wong said in future they would reach out to more, but at the moment, the selected towns were where people needed to improve their breakfast habit. “We also do have mobile units where we go into rural areas. From there, we educate and promote healthy breakfast.”
Apart from that, there were also qualified nutritionists on ground to provide advice and services such as BMI examinations, a Creative Breakfast Demonstration by Chef Brian, as well as a Creative Breakfast Competition. Ticket sales from the run will go towards funding breakfasts of underprivileged families at each of the event locations.
