Health worker gives a child Vitamin A oral supplement. (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen XuanPhuc has approved the Vietnam Health Programme to improve the well-being,stature, longevity and life quality of Vietnamese people.
The programme sets three goals – to promote a healthydiet and lifestyle with appropriate nutrition and increased physical activityto improve Vietnamese people’s stature and well-being; to raise publicawareness for behavioral change to protect health and prevent health-relatedcommon risks; and to provide constant and long-term primary health careservices to reduce burden of illness and health on the community and enhancethe quality of life for people.
To achieve the goals, it will focus on improving healthcare for children and students; prevent impact of tobacco and alcohol; ensureenvironmental sanitation and food safety; and foster the early detection andmanagement of a number of non-communicable diseases, community-based healthcare provision, and the delivery of health care services for the elderly andworkers.
The Vietnam Health Programme will link differentprogrammes and projects on related issues to strive towards these goals.
It will be implemented nationwide from 2018 – 2030. From2031, the programme will review its goals and priorities based on the resultsand real situation at that time.
Malnutrition has been mainly blamed for Vietnamesepeople’s shortness compared with other their peers in countries in Asia andEurope, according to the National Institute of Nutrition.
Vietnamese men are 163.7cm tall on average – 13.1cm shorter than the WorldHealth Organisation standard, while Vietnamese women are 153cm on average –10.7cm below the standard. Compared with peoples of other countries in theregion, Vietnamese people are on average about 8cm shorter.
The clearest difference in height between Vietnamese people and others is seenin children 6-12 months old and 6-11 years old.
Nutrition experts affirmed that genetic heredity is not responsible forVietnamese people’s shortness. Vietnamese children who are born and grow up inEurope grow as tall as those in their host country.
Factors that affect children’s height and weight mainlyoccur in the foetal stage and in the first two years, so it is vital to providethe correct micronutrients to children during those periods. –VNA
VNA
