Nutrition
Nourishing every child’s potential
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- Tiếng Việt
Challenges
Good nutrition is critical for a child’s survival, growth, and development. Well-nourished children are better able to learn, play and grow into productive members of their communities.
Without the right nutrition at the right time for their brains and bodies, wasting can have life-changing consequences and leave young lives in the balance. This is still a reality in Viet Nam, especially for the poorest and most vulnerable children – particularly ethnic minorities.
Strikingly, despite improved child nutrition outcomes in recent decades, undernutrition is responsible for nearly half of 100 daily deaths of children aged under-five from preventable causes. More than 200,000 children suffer from severe wasting annually, with 90 per cent not treated with life-saving therapeutic products.
Poor nutrition also continues to leave its mark on Viet Nam’s next generation, with 1.8 million children under-five and more than one-third of ethnic minorities of the same age bracket classified as stunted. Conversely, nearly one-in-five children and adolescents are overweight or obese.
More than half (58 per cent) of children under-five have a zinc deficiency. In the ethnic-dominated Northern Mountainous and Central Highlands regions, the rates exceed 66 per cent and even 81.9 per cent for pregnant women in the former.
Nutrition threats are forecast to intensify with an estimated two million people impacted by climate change-driven natural disasters each year.
More than 200,000 children suffer from severe wasting annually, with 90 per cent not treated with life-saving therapeutic products.
Solutions
Nutrition matters. To secure their futures, all children need the best start to life.
UNICEF is working with partners to tackle the “triple burden of malnutrition” – undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies as well as overweight and obesity – to ensure all children get the nourishment they need to stay alive and thrive into adulthood.
Within communities, especially those hard-to-reach and with ethnic group populations, we strive to prevent all forms of wasting through improving children’s and women’s access to nutritious, safe, affordable and sustainable diets. Where prevention falls short, we support health authorities to detect acute wasting and respond with healthy feeding practices and treatment when needed.
To ensure a sustainable health system response for all children today and into the future, we generate evidence on early childhood feeding practices and local food markets to support policy updates. Healthy eating habits among children and young people are promoted through innovative communication campaigns in schools and communities.
"UNICEF is working with partners to tackle the 'triple burden of malnutrition' – undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies as well as overweight and obesity."
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Impacts
UNICEF supports Viet Nam to ensure that communities, especially the most vulnerable, have access to adequate and improved nutrition. Towards this goal, by 2026, we will contribute to the reduction in wasting to less than 5 per cent of children under-five and 200,000 children annually will receive adequate treatment for severe wasting. Zinc deficiencies among children and pregnant women will be cut by half, while there will be no increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children aged 5-18 years.