MetLife Foundation has granted US$500,000 to Sesame Workshop in an effort to expand its nutrition and healthy habits educational outreach program targeted to children, parents, and educators in India and Mexico.

The additional funds will enable Sesame Workshop to produce a new 15-minute Galli Galli Sim Sim radio program, which builds on the multimedia educational initiative that launched a TV series of the same name in India in 2006. The project is committed to helping children learn about good health habits, reflected by a strong curricular focus on nutrition and safety. The radio series will air on All India Radio (AIR) in 11 cities and six states three times a week during a 52-week period. In addition, the Galli Galli Sim Sim Healthy Habits for Life campaign TV episodes will be re-broadcast on Cartoon Network and Pogo. Lastly, the new grant will allow for additional runs of an animated health message that was specially created for MetLife Foundation to air before episodes of Galli Galli Sim Sim.

In Mexico, meanwhile, Plaza Sésamo Healthy Habits for Life, a multimedia initiative that harnesses the power of Plaza Sésamo to deliver educational health messages to meet the needs of Mexican preschoolers, will receive a similar animated health message specially created for MetLife Foundation to run before episodes of Plaza Sésamo aired on Televisa. Plaza Sésamo episodes will continue to include a focus on topics related to healthy habits, including hygiene, nutrition and food, physical exercise and road and fire safety. Additionally, 20,000 more healthy habits educational outreach kits will be created and distributed to the North, South, and Central regions of Mexico with the help of government and civil society partners. The kit includes a book entitled Move and Eat Well with Plaza Sésamo that focuses on nutrition, exercise and awareness of the body.

In October 2009, MetLife Foundation made a previous grant of US$550,000 to Sesame Workshop in support of these two initiatives in India and Mexico.