"Pyaterochka" retail chain concludes the inaugural "Healthy Olympics" competition for university and secondary vocational education students.
In commemoration of World Health Day, an online competition—dubbed the "Healthy Olympics"— attracted over 23,000 participants from 820 educational institutions across the nation. The victorious schools hailed from Novocherkassk and Volgograd, earning tickets to VK Fest 2025 and a 1 million ruble grant for health initiative development.
The "Healthy Olympics," a project initiated by a retail network based on the sustainable development program "Pyaterochka with Care," encourages a healthy lifestyle and fosters beneficial habits through tasks centered on proper nutrition principles. Initially limited to school students, university and college students joined the competition for the first time in 2025.
The competition ran from April 3 to 9 and was subsequently extended to April 20 due to popular interest and increased participation. Testing was conducted on the zdravaya-olimpiada.rf/students platform, where participants had forty-five minutes to answer twenty questions. A remarkable level of engagement was observed in the Krasnodar Territory, Volgograd, Rostov, and Astrakhan regions. The top five colleges and universities with the best results progressed to the final round.
South Russian State Polytechnic University named after M.I. Platov from Novocherkassk and Volgograd College of Restaurant Service and Trade (VKRSiT) were amongst the winners. The winners were awarded tickets to VK Fest 2025 and a fully-funded trip to Sochi, while VKRSiT received a 1 million ruble grant to establish a microgreens farm. The project will be integrated into culinary education programs, utilized in the dining hall, during schoolchildren's career guidance sessions, and in social catering initiatives.
According to Sofia Berezhnova, a 2nd-year student at VKRSiT, the winning institution "has long dreamed of a project to grow microgreens... We have real opportunities to implement it. There's a sense of confidence in the future and a desire to actively participate in every stage of the work." Teacher Tatiana Loskutova from VKRSiT echoed these sentiments, stating, "It's great that our college won the 'Healthy Olympics!' Now we all have the opportunity not just to talk about healthy eating, but to actively implement it in our classes."
Students and teachers commended the selection of tasks, the relevance of situational questions, the visual presentation, and most importantly, the opportunity to assess their eating habits from the perspective of usefulness and caloric content. Ekaterina Demeško, manager of the sustainable development department of the "Pyaterochka" retail chain, expressed satisfaction with engaging young people in the promotion of healthy habits.
Since its inception in 2024, the project's core objective is to develop healthy habits from an early age, making health care an integral part of daily life rather than an obligation. In total, approximately 245,000 students from nearly 8,500 educational institutions have participated in the Olympics.
- The "Healthy Olympics," a project initiated by the retail network "Pyaterochka with Care," fosters a healthy lifestyle and encourages beneficial habits through tasks centered on nutrition, science, and education-and-self-development.
- The top colleges and universities with the best results in the "Healthy Olympics" competition displayed an exceptional engagement in subjects such as fitness-and-exercise, learning, and health-and-wellness.
- In alignment with its goal to promote healthy habits from a young age, the "Pyaterochka" retail chain's "Healthy Olympics" has garnered participation from approximately 245,000 students across 8,500 educational institutions, emphasizing the importance of nutrition, education, and wellness in their daily lives.
