Project launched to improve nutritional condition for poor children

A nutrition project has been launched by Vietnam Red Cross Society (VRCS) Central Committee, aiming to provide nutritious meals for children and improve their stature, especially those with difficult circumstances in mountainous and ethnic minority areas.

The project will be carried out over the next five years, starting this month.

It will develop and maintain 20 restaurants and 20 food banks that provide free food for children. As many as 1,000 medical workers and nutritionists are anticipated to involve in the programme. One million poor children are expected to benefit from the project.

The project focuses on implementing many activities including food support, nutritious meals for poor children; nutrition examination and counseling for children; providing medical equipment and training, and promoting communication work on disease prevention and control; building a healthy living and learning environment; raising awareness of nutritional care for poor children; and enabling them to grow well and fuel their brain development.

According to VRCS Central Committee, as Vietnam is a developing country, the rate of poor people and those with difficult circumstances is still high, especially among persons in ethnic and mountainous areas.

Vietnam currently has nearly 2 million children suffering from chronic malnutrition. More than 230,000 children under five years old face severe acute malnutrition every year. If they are not treated in time, these children are more likely to die.

The damage caused by malnutrition to the health and development of young children is permanent and irreparable. Malnutrition in children does not only leave a serious impact on their survival, development, and economic ability in the future, but also creates a burden on the family and society, thereby affecting the sustainable development goals of the country./.