Policy Support for Infant and Young Child Feeding in Vietnam: Leader Perspectives

With regard to malnutrition control in the last two decades, the main focus has been on providing children with adequate levels of food and qualified food as until the early 1990s there has been still 58% of households in Vietnam living under the poverty line (cannot acquire 2100 cal/person/day)1. However, Vietnam has been moving towards becoming a developing country over the last 20 years. The country has shifted from being a rice-imported country in the 1980s to the second largest exporter of rice in the mid 1990s and currently a recognized exporter of many food products. Malnutrition has decreased, however obesity rates are increasing more populous cities and rates of stunted children are not improving. This will influence the IYCF by adopting new approaches.

This qualitative study, approved by the Ministry of Health, conducted with 42 leaders from national agencies, government departments, mass media organizations, medical associations and hospitals in the year 2010. The study was implemented under the scope of the Alive and Thrive project Vietnam. The interviewed respondents acknowledge the values of breast milk and support the promotion of breastfeeding. Said stakeholders recognized the changes in young mother’s breastfeeding and practices and the underlying reasons for not doing it for example: workload; inappropriateness of maternity leave policy; formula advertisement; poor knowledge; environment that does not allow or encourage it and poor instructions from health workers. It is obvious that the key areas for improving nutrition
problems in Vietnam over the next decade are: to reduce rates of stunted children malnutrition; increase the height of Vietnamese children and improve food fortification. This information has been communicated to policy makers by the National Institute of Nutrition.