SINGAPORE - More than 4,000 children from low-income homes can now start their school day with a free bowl of cereal in the morning.

The initiative is being rolled out from October to 32 PAP Community Foundation and My First Skool pre-schools in Ang Mo Kio and Yishun.

The children will get breakfast for a year under a tie-up between Kellogg Company, The Food Bank Singapore (FBSG) and KidStart Singapore.

The partnership was announced at a virtual event on Monday (Oct 18), attended by Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli.

Mr Masagos said that the initiative aims to provide pre-schoolers with access to adequate nutrition.

He added: "The Kellogg's Better Days with KidStart initiative is an example of what we can achieve when the private, people and public sectors work together towards a common goal."

The initiative is supported by Kellogg's Better Days programme, which has provided 1.9 billion servings of food worldwide since 2013. It aims to feed 375 million people in need by 2030.

In Singapore, Kellogg has donated more than 100,000 servings of cereal to front-liners, migrant workers, seniors and needy children since the start of the pandemic, with various partners such as the Health Promotion Board and Red Cross Singapore.

President of Kellogg AMEA (Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa) Shumit Kapoor said: "Ensuring food security is at the heart of our Better Days programme, where we work with communities to address malnourishment and hunger.

"We are delighted to join forces with KidStart and Food Bank to reach thousands of children across Singapore, provide them with nutritious breakfasts and have the opportunity to contribute towards their early development," he added.

The announcement of the initiative follows World Food Day last Saturday, which aims to bring awareness to world hunger and healthy diets.

FBSG co-founder Nichol Ng said: "World Food Day serves as a timely reminder of food as a basic need of everyone. While food is easily available in Singapore, there are still those who face food insecurity."

Madam Rahayu Buang, chief executive of KidStart, said that the project hopes to make breakfast a daily routine for the children over time.

She added: "Our collaboration with partners like Kellogg helps KidStart to meaningfully engage families through a variety of initiatives to address their different needs. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day to power children's development and learning."