Around five million children aged between 6 and 36 months in Vietnam will receive free vitamin A pills on June 1-2, part of the government’s efforts to reduce the high rate of malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies in children in the country. Vitamin A capsules will also be provided for 863,000 mothers who have given birth within this month and 880,000 children from 37-60 months old in 22 disadvantaged provinces, said the National Institute of Nutrition under the Ministry of Health. Communication campaigns will also be put forward to raise the awareness of the community, especially mothers, of micronutrient deficiencies by providing them advice on nutrition, dietary regimes and supplements of vitamin A, iron and iodine, Mai said. Figures from the institute showed that 26.7% of Vietnamese children under five years old suffer from malnutrition, 16.2% of whom are underweight, while childhood obesity has increased nine-fold over 10 years. The total number of Vietnamese children under five years old who suffer from malnutrition is more than 3.2 million, accounting for 42.1% of the country’s child population of 7.6 million. Of the 3.2 million, more than two million suffer from chronic malnutrition: their growth is stunted and their bones undeveloped; the rest have acute malnutrition and are underweight. Currently, 17 provinces and cities in Vietnam are home to more than 20% of children who suffer from acute and chronic malnutrition, while 21 localities contain more than 30% of malnourished children. (VietnamPlus May 21)
