How to Nourish Children

The Latin American left, in Chile as well, aspired to create a ‘new man’, that is, an archetypal individual with updated values who would emerge from the revolution. Achieving this ideal depended on children’s well- being. Food for the ‘new child’ was therefore an essential factor in the construction of socialism.

Child malnutrition in Chile was among the highest in the world, which raised its mortality rate and laid bare its profound social inequalities. Within this context, the government saw the launch of a national food plan as an urgent priority. One of the most emblematic measures was the free distribution of what became known as the ‘daily half a litre of milk’ to children under the age of 15, pregnant women and nursing mothers.

Design was decisive in the implementation of that plan. Examples include the spoons to measure out powdered milk created by INTEC and posters for the state lottery’s child health educational campaigns made by Waldo González and Mario Quiroz. Both designs were made for the Chilean National Health Service.

INTEC also developed the equipment for the National Kindergarten Board (JUNJI). Created in 1970, this institution radically transformed preschool education policies by expanding state responsibility and action and introducing a new perspective on children’s participation and rights.