Health worker gives a child Vitamin A oral supplement. (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan
Phuc has approved the to improve the ,
stature, longevity and life quality of Vietnamese people.
The programme sets three goals – to promote a healthy
diet and lifestyle with appropriate nutrition and increased physical activity
to improve Vietnamese people’s and well-being; to raise public
awareness for behavioral change to protect health and prevent health-related
common risks; and to provide constant and long-term primary health care
services to reduce burden of illness and health on the community and enhance
the quality of life for people.
To achieve the goals, it will focus on improving health
care for children and students; prevent impact of tobacco and alcohol; ensure
environmental sanitation and food safety; and foster the early detection and
management of a number of non-communicable diseases, community-based health
care provision, and the delivery of health care services for the elderly and
workers.
The Vietnam Health Programme will link different
programmes and projects on related issues to strive towards these goals.
It will be implemented nationwide from 2018 – 2030. From
2031, the programme will review its goals and priorities based on the results
and real situation at that time.
Malnutrition has been mainly blamed for Vietnamese
people’s shortness compared with other their peers in countries in Asia and
Europe, according to the National Institute of Nutrition.
Vietnamese men are 163.7cm tall on average – 13.1cm shorter than the World
Health Organisation standard, while Vietnamese women are 153cm on average –
10.7cm below the standard. Compared with peoples of other countries in the
region, Vietnamese people are on average about 8cm shorter.
The clearest difference in height between Vietnamese people and others is seen
in children 6-12 months old and 6-11 years old.
Nutrition experts affirmed that genetic heredity is not responsible for
Vietnamese people’s shortness. Vietnamese children who are born and grow up in
Europe grow as tall as those in their host country.
Factors that affect children’s height and weight mainly
occur in the foetal stage and in the first two years, so it is vital to provide
the correct micronutrients to children during those periods. –VNA
Source: VietnamPlus
