Hanoi works hard to ensure proper nutrition for children

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Hanoi is rolling out various mechanisms, policies, communications activities, and solutions to give best care for children towards fulfilling targets on children nutrition.

The city has set goals to reduce the ratio of stunting among children under five years old to 11.8 percent in 2025, and the ratio of underweight among the group to 7.3 percent. The figures are hoped to fall to 11.3 percent and 6.8 percent, respectively, in 2030.

Meanwhile, the city aims to lower the ratio of low birth weight (under 2,500 grammes) among newborns to 4 percent in 2020 and 3.5 percent in 2030, while bringing the ratio of obesity among children under five years old down to less than 10 percent in the city inner and 5 percent in suburban areas in 2025.

Besides, the capital will strive to have 80 percent of mothers breastfeed their child in the first hour after birth in 2025 and 85 percent in 2030, along with 25 percent of mothers practise exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months in 2025 and 30 percent in 2030, and 60 percent of mothers continue to nurse to 24 months and longer in 2025 and 80 percent in 2030.

Currently, Vietnam has seen the ratio of stunting among children under five years old reduce by 1 percent per year, but the ratio has remained high (23.2 percent in 2018). The gap also remains big between mountainous and plain regions, and between rural and urban areas. The ratio is 28.4 percent in northern mountainous region and 32.7 percent in the Central Highlands. Malnutrition and the shortage of micronutrients are among major reasons behind the current modest height among Vietnamese youngsters.

In 2019, Hanoi health care sector managed to reduce the ratio of stunted children by 0.7 percent to 12.8 percent, and the ratio of underweight children by 0.3 percent to 8.2 percent.

At the same time, the city has focused on implementing measures to control obesity and raise public awareness and knowledge of proper nutritious practices among pregnant women and mothers, and making family meals more balanced with the goal of improving local population’s physical stature and strength.

In the future, the city health care sector will build a nutrition monitoring system from city to communal levels, while updating and analyzing nutrition-related data and enhancing the capacity of protective medicine agencies.

The city will also popularise knowledge on proper nutrition to the community, thus changing people's habits and bettering their nutrition practices.

The city Department of Health has assigned disease control centres across the city to give technical guidelines and trainings to centres in localities in order to improve community nutrition. It has built a nutrition monitoring and reporting system from the city to health care stations in communes, wards and towns, while guiding the health education and communications system to increase activities to popularize proper nutrition practices in the community.

Since 2019, the city Centre for Disease Control has coordinated with health care centres in districts and towns to launch communication campaigns to respond to the Week for Nutrition and Development, the Iodine Salt Day, and Macronutrient Day.

Health education has been given to the community, while medical workers have also received training on the significance of proper nutrition in preventing non-transmittable chronic diseases and the lack of macronutrients.

Interference activities to reduce the number of stunted children have been implemented in 50 communes with over 18 percent children suffering from stunted growth, while surveys on nutrition conditions among children under five years old and women in the reproductive age have been carried out in 90 residential areas in two outskirt districts and some inner districts.

At the same time, the city has maintained activities to reduce obesity among primary school children./.