The President’s Spouse Sanja Musić Milanović: Children’s Health Is a Shared Responsibility
Prof. Dr. Sanja Musić Milanović, the spouse of the President of the Republic of Croatia, delivered a video address to participants of the expert conference “Together for a Healthy Lifestyle,” held in Ljubljana on Tuesday. The event was organized by the Slovenian National Institute of Public Health and held under the patronage of Aleš Musar, the spouse of the President of the Republic of Slovenia. The conference primarily focused on the importance of promoting healthy lifestyles among children and youth, with particular attention to the role of school nutrition.
In her address, Prof. Musić Milanović highlighted the critical role of schools as key environments for fostering proper nutrition and healthy habits – especially in the context of the growing epidemic of childhood obesity affecting the entire European region, including Croatia.
She referenced the conclusions of the Zagreb Summit, held in May 2023, where the Zagreb Declaration was adopted as a joint European initiative to halt the rising trend of childhood obesity. She emphasized that the fight against obesity must be coordinated, multisectoral, and rooted in solidarity – stating that there are no borders when it comes to this rapidly escalating public health challenge.
Prof. Musić Milanović also presented a series of initiatives being implemented in Croatia as part of the National Health Promotion Programme “Healthy Living.” These include the development of standardized school menus, the creation of educational materials for pupils and teachers, the launch of the national School Breakfast Week campaign, and specialized training for school cooks in collaboration with UNICEF.
She addressed the various challenges schools face in providing nutritious meals, including infrastructural limitations and regional disparities, and called for increased investment and stronger cross-sector collaboration to ensure equal conditions for all pupils across Croatia and Europe.
“Children’s health is a shared responsibility,” she said. “We can only develop effective and sustainable solutions through strong, coordinated cooperation among all stakeholders – at the national, local, and European levels.”
In conclusion, Prof. Dr. Musić Milanović stressed that every individual has a role to play in this complex effort, and that only through collective action can effective and lasting solutions be achieved. She underscored that the success of public health policy relies not only on strong political and societal commitment but also on consistent, cross-sectoral collaboration.
Following the Zagreb Summit, Slovenia developed its own set of policy recommendations, adapting the Zagreb Declaration’s guidance to its national context. Prof. Dr. Musić Milanović’s participation in the conference through her video address reflects her ongoing international engagement in the effort to safeguard the health of children and young people, with a particular focus on preventing childhood obesity by encouraging healthy lifestyle habits from an early age.