Illustrative image (Courtesy of FrieslandCampina Vietnam) Hanoi (VNA) – FrieslandCampina, one of the world’s largest dairy companies, has announced the initiation of the second Southeast Asia Nutrition Survey (SEANUTS II), giving an insight into the nutritional status of more than 18,000 children in Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam.
The survey will be conducted in collaboration with research institutes and universities.
The objective of the SEANUTS II is to provide comprehensive research on the growth, dietary intake, physical activity and biochemical parameters of children aged from six months to 12 years.
Due to the extent and severity of malnutrition in the region, this second edition of the survey will put extra focus on insights into protein consumption. Protein is a critical building block for children’s growth.
In Vietnam, the survey will be implemented with the coordination of the National Institute of Nutrition. The findings will be announced in 2021 and will be used as references to develop national nutrition programmes and projects to enhance scientific knowledge and policy-making processes.
Le Danh Tuyen, Director of the National Institute of Nutrition, highlighted the significance of the survey, which is expected to give an in-depth insight into growth trends, nutrition habits and the nutrition status of Vietnamese children.
The first edition of survey, which was conducted in 2010-2011, showed that many children in Vietnam and other regional countries suffer from malnutrition, obesity and nutrition deficiencies, he noted.
President of FrieslandCampina Specialised Nutrition Berndt Kodden said that good dietary intake is significant to the growth and health of children.
Over the past years, the FrieslandCampina has coordinated with governments, non-governmental organisations and healthcare experts to conduct nutrition education programmes to inspire families towards a healthy lifestyle.
In this survey, the firm aims to find out the nutrition demand and real intake of children, thus developing dairy products exclusively for children to meet their nutrition needs, he said.-VNA
VNA
