Impressive results of the school milk program

The positive role of the SHD program in children's health and nutrition

At the 2019 International Dairy Federation (IDF) Summit held in Türkiye last September, IDF Chief Operating Officer Maretha Vermaak commented: “With careful consideration and evaluation, we have seen the importance and positive contribution of the SHD program to the health and nutrition of children. Therefore, it is essential that national governments and intergovernmental organizations recognize the importance of SHD programs in promoting health in children.”

The School Milk Program in the world has been implemented very early in 60 countries such as Japan, Thailand, China, the United States, the United Kingdom...

In the world, the SHD Program has been implemented very early in many countries such as Japan, Korea, the US... and has recorded its effectiveness in improving stature. For example, in Japan, after 40 years of application, Japanese people have increased their height by 10cm.

In Vietnam, in 2016, the national SHD program was approved by the Government to be implemented until 2020 with the aim of: "Improving the nutritional status of preschool and primary school children through daily milk feeding activities to reduce the rate of malnutrition, improve the stature and physical strength of Vietnamese children, and contribute to the development of human resources in the future".
In particular, the Vietnam SHĐ program is carried out in the form of socialization. The cost of milk for children will be contributed from 3 sources: the state, parents and milk suppliers. This is especially meaningful for children with difficult conditions, whose parents do not have enough conditions to provide them with milk every day.

In Vietnam, 17 provinces/cities have implemented the School Milk program and achieved initial results in improving the physical condition of students.

Currently, 17 provinces/cities nationwide have implemented the SHD program and achieved initial results. Ba Ria - Vung Tau is the first locality nationwide to implement this program since 2007. Up to now, after more than 10 years of implementation, the province's SHD program has achieved many good results, contributing to the implementation of the National Nutrition Strategy. Specifically, the number of preschool students going to school is increasing, always exceeding the target, in preschools 100% of children gain weight, increase height and develop good intelligence.

Following that, Bac Ninh is the second province nationwide to implement the SHD program. According to data from the Department of Education and Training of Bac Ninh, during the 2017-2020 period, the whole province had about 300,000 preschool children and 265,000 primary school students benefiting from this program.
Although Hanoi has only been implementing the SHD program since January 2019, it has achieved impressive results. Up to now, more than 1 million preschoolers and primary school students have participated, reaching a rate of 87.7%. SHD is also being implemented in many other localities such as Khanh Hoa, Dong Nai, Bac Ninh, Binh Duong, Da Nang, Ha Nam, Ninh Thuan, etc., contributing to the goal of improving the stature of preschool and primary school children by 2020.

Efforts to improve the health of Vietnamese children have paid off.

The National Institute of Nutrition has pointed out a reality in Vietnam, that is, the rate of children suffering from malnutrition, stunting, underweight, anemia, etc. is still very high compared to the world. In which, the rate of children suffering from malnutrition is up to 24.3% (2016). With this situation, according to nutrition experts, it is necessary to supplement at least 1 box of milk in school meals every day through the SHD program.

The School Milk Program contributes significantly to improving height development and reducing the rate of malnutrition in school-age children.

The “School Milk” project in Ba Ria - Vung Tau province, implemented by the Department of Education and Training in collaboration with Vinamilk since the 2007-2008 school year for children aged 3-5, has achieved many encouraging results in improving the physical condition of the children. Specifically, the number of underweight malnourished children in Ba Ria - Vung Tau in 2015 decreased by 2.1% compared to 2012. Also in just 3 years from 2012 to 2015, the rate of stunted malnourished children also decreased by 1.82%.

In Bac Ninh, after implementing the SHD from 2013 to 2017, the rate of underweight and stunted children improved significantly. The rate of underweight children in kindergartens decreased by 5% from 6.6% (in 2013) to only 1.6% (in 2017). In preschool children, the rate of underweight malnutrition decreased from 4.6% to 1.6%, and stunting decreased from 4.2% to 2.8%. The average growth in weight over 4 years was 1.4 - 1.5 kg, and in height was 2.3 - 2.4 cm. These are positive results recorded, showing a marked improvement in physical condition in just a short period of implementation.

Spread a humanitarian program

However, on a national scale, according to the National Institute of Nutrition, Vietnam is still facing challenges such as: The rate of stunting (height for age) in children under 5 years old decreases by 1% each year, but is still high at 24.3% (2016) and there is a difference between regions, especially mountainous areas, disadvantaged areas and rural areas with cities and plains. The investigation of the Institute of Nutrition also shows that the diet of most Vietnamese people does not meet the needs of vitamins and minerals, leading to micronutrient deficiencies.

The school milk program is meaningful for children in difficult circumstances whose parents do not have enough conditions to give them milk every day.

In addition, according to the report of the Vietnam Dairy Association in 2018, the average milk consumption of Vietnamese people is only 27 - 28 liters of milk per person per year, which is quite modest compared to Thailand, Singapore, and Japan. Therefore, it can be said that improving nutritional care conditions, specifically adding milk to school meals for children, is very practical.

Mr. Tran Quang Trung, Chairman of the Vietnam Dairy Association, assessed that the Government's SHD Program, with the main goal of improving children's stature, is a humane project that has been carefully prepared after many years and studied models in many countries such as Japan and Thailand. In recent years, many provinces and cities have implemented the SHD program and achieved very good results, receiving high appreciation and response from the whole society.

Although there have been initial results, more long-term investment and efforts will be needed for the effectiveness of the SHD program to be replicated in other localities in the coming time. With the active support of major milk producers in Vietnam such as Vinamilk, TH True Milk, NutiFood,... and the participation of the whole society in improving nutritional conditions for children, the goal of improving the health of the young generation of Vietnam is certainly a not-too-distant future.