Action
National Nutrition Policy and Planning UNICEF has formed alliances with a broad range of partners to effect widespread change. For example, UNICEF has begun a project with the Asian Development Bank, the World Health Organization, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Chinese Ministries of Health, Education and Agriculture to define a national nutrition policy framework. This will be achieved by advocating to make nutrition part of the national human resource development component in China's 11th Five-year Plan and by forming a high-level inter-sectoral nutrition co-ordinating body. Mineral and Vitamin Deficiencies UNICEF has undertaken the following activities: - Supporting vitamin A supplementation programs for children 6 months to 3 years old in all 72 counties of Tibet and 46 project counties in other poor areas. - Piloting multiple micronutrient supplementation programs that deliver iodine, iron, vitamin A, and folate to pregnant women in poor counties of Shaanxi Province. This supplementation reduces their risk of bearing children with anemia, low birth weight, and developmental brain disorders. - Supporting a national program to eliminate Iodine Deficiency Disorder (IDD) with a focus on Tibet, Xinjiang, Qinghai, Hainan and Gansu (five areas that have yet to achieve the national IDD elimination goal). As part of its support, UNICEF organized a successful high-level conference on IDD that attracted delegates from more than 30 countries. UNICEF also works with salt manufacturers to ensure distribution of iodized salt down to the village level, supports communications campaigns to create consumer demand for iodized salt, collaborates with the Ministry of Health to enforce iodization monitoring, and works to sustain coverage in provinces that have achieved their iodization targets. - Supporting a feasibility study for fortification of wheat flour in two pilot, Gansu and Hebei, with funding from the US Centers for Disease Control - Providing technical support and advocacy to the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition to expand flour and soy sauce fortification - Supporting the development of a regulatory framework for food fortification.
Caring and psycho-social stimulation are vital to growth, to decreasing susceptibility to disease, and to improving energy uptake. This means children deprived of care or stimulation are particularly at risk of malnutrition—especially those orphaned or otherwise affected by HIV/AIDS. Migrant and poor children are also particularly at risk. To address the issue of integrated early childhood development as it relates to nutrition, UNICEF has undertaken the following activities: - Conducting research to gain a better understanding of local beliefs and habits regarding household care practices. - Organizing working groups and field consultations to develop service packages and a plan for delivering them to families and communities. - Designing and developing health education materials - Improving quality and efficiency of health service through more effective meetings, monitoring, and supervision. - Conducting workshops and meetings to increase inter-sectoral communication and coordination - Organizing expert teams or assigning professional staff to work in the field to provide technical support for field implementation.
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