WB, UNICEF Urge Solid Steps to Fix Child Malnutrition in Vietnam

Vietnam should work to fight child malnutrition by funding nutrition-related programs, finding out determining factors in undernutrition, and making early intervention, the World Bank (WB) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) urged in a press release on Thursday [September 12]. The press release said that child nutrition remains a significant challenge in Vietnam, representing a staggering but avoidable loss to the nation’s human resource and economic growth potential. According to the UNICEF, more than 230,000 children under five years old in Vietnam suffer from severe acute malnutrition every year, which is a major cause of stunting and death in children of the age bracket. Meanwhile, the WB’s new report named “Persistent Malnutrition in Ethnic Minority Communities of Vietnam: Issues and Options or Policy and Interventions” found that nearly one in every three ethnic minority children are affected by stunting, more than twice as much as the Kinh majority; and 21% of ethnic minority children are underweight, 2.5 times higher than that of their Kinh peers. The WB and the UNICEF reaffirmed their strong commitment to work with the Vietnamese government to tackle this issue as the country prepares its socio-economic development strategy 2021-2030. (Nhan Dan, Nhan Dan, news.zing, netnews, Cong Thuong, Bao Dan Sinh, phunuvietnam, Tuoi Trenews, worldbank, unicef)