The Ministry of Health and the National Institute of Nutrition launched a campaign to boost child nutrition in Hanoi on May 25.
The launching ceremony took place at Binh Yen A kindergarten in Thach That district on the occasion of National Nutrition Day (June 1 and 2). Addressing the event, Truong Dinh Bac, the Deputy Director of the General Department of Preventive Medicine, highlighted the focus of the 2011-2020 National strategy on Nutrition, including the prevention of malnutrition and obesity, and raising public awareness of the importance of eating healthy and nutritious meals every day. This year’s National Nutrition Day sees the expansion of the programme to distribute vitamin A supplements to children, which will contribute significantly to the strategy’s overall outcomes, he said. As many as five million children under the age of five take vitamin A supplements every year. This has led to the elimination of dry eye syndrome, which can cause blindness, and a sharp decline in the number of children who suffer from vitamin A deficiency. Vietnam achieved the Millennium Development Goal on eradicating child malnutrition ahead of schedule.-VNA
