Real Madrid football star Cristiano Ronaldo is kicking off 2013 as Save the Children's new Global Artist Ambassador. In his new role, Cristiano will fight child hunger and obesity, and promote physical activity and healthy eating. "When I learned that 1 in 7 kids around the world go to bed hungry each night, I jumped at the chance to get involved," said Ronaldo.
Chronic hunger impair children's development and leaves them vulnerable to deadly disease. Children are more likely to be healthy and educated when their families are not worried about where the next meal will come from. To help parents fight hunger and malnutrition, Save the Children's programs focus on improving the food supply, farming practices and finances of families in need. In rural mountainous Guatemala, Save the Children is helping undernourished preschoolers grow and gain weight, and Ronaldo is gearing up to take on child hunger in Guatemala.
"See how @SavetheChildren is showing parents how to use goat milk to tackle child #hunger in Guatemala," he tweeted. Cristiano is referring to a goat milk program which is helping chronically malnourished Guatemalan children like four-year-old Isabella. "Parents want to do everything they can for their child. As a father, I can only imagine how Isabella's mother must have felt, knowing her child was not getting the nourishment she needed," said Cristiano Ronaldo. "Fortunately, Isabella's mother got good advice from Save the Children on how healthy foods like goat milk can help Isabella gain weight and grow. But not all parents get this guidance, and that is heartbreaking."
