Nutrition week looks to improve national nutrition status

Hanoi, October 13 (VNA) – Vietnam will celebrate its Nutrition and Development Week from October 16 to 23 this year. It will focus on creating social welfare policies and sustainable agriculture development, aiming to reduce poverty and improve nutrition. The week will promote the 2011-2020 National Nutrition Strategy and celebrate World Food Day (October 16), said Le Bach Mai, Deputy Director of the National Institute of Nutrition under the Ministry of Health. During the week, the ministry will coordinate with State agriculture bodies to provide guidelines on proper cultivation techniques for farmers and develop VAC (garden-pond-livestock pen) integrated farming systems – a Vietnamese approach to family production of clean, nutrient-rich foods. This could boost the country’s food security and improve Vietnamese people’s diets and household incomes. The ministry also plans to raise public awareness on how to eat a healthy, balanced diet. This could help control obesity and improve the physical health of Vietnamese people. According to the National Institute of Nutrition, unbalanced diet is among the top causes of malnutrition in the country. In 2014, 24.9 percent of children suffered from acute, chronic malnutrition and 14.5 percent had acute malnutrition. These children mainly live in impoverished areas such as the Central Highlands and northern mountainous regions./.