Multi-micronutrient fortified milk will support children's growth and development.

The big harm of lacking small nutrients

According to Associate Professor, Doctor Le Bach Mai - former Deputy Director of the National Institute of Nutrition, Vietnamese people often lack vitamin A, vitamin D, zinc, iron, multi-micronutrients, and low calcium intake. In addition, micronutrient deficiencies also adversely affect health, physical development, stature, and intelligence, hindering the growth and comprehensive development of children and the reproductive ability, as well as the labor productivity of adults. Meanwhile, the implementation of nutritional care for infants and young children, school nutrition, and nutrition for workers has only achieved initial results.

Milk producers should pay attention to adding more important micronutrients to milk products, to contribute to improving the health of Vietnamese people. Photo: PV

Symptoms of micronutrient deficiency can manifest as diseases such as iron deficiency anemia and dry eyes due to vitamin A deficiency. If the deficiency lasts for a long time, it will affect physical and intellectual growth and development, sometimes irreversibly. Typically, long-term calcium deficiency in the diet (less than 600 mg/day) can cause mineral metabolism disorders in bones, reduce bone weight, cause osteoporosis, rickets, muscle spasms, and be associated with high blood pressure, intestinal cancer, and colon cancer. Micronutrient deficiency can lead to death, reduced quality of life, and labor productivity.

Prof. Dr. Le Danh Tuyen - Director of the National Institute of Nutrition provided information: According to the leading medical journal Lancet, the map of micronutrient deficiency covers all developing countries of the continents (including Vietnam), causing serious impacts on the physical and intellectual development of children. The diet of Vietnamese people in general, especially children, does not provide enough micronutrients according to the body's needs.

In Southeast Asia, micronutrient deficiencies occur in both urban and rural areas (ASEAN and Vietnam Nutrition Surveillance Data). The main cause is that the diet does not provide enough of most of the micronutrients needed for the body.

Professor Le Danh Tuyen recommends: People should pay attention to choosing foods fortified with micronutrients in their daily meals such as: iodine-fortified salt, iron-zinc-fortified wheat flour or foods with ingredients fortified with this micronutrient, cooking oil fortified with vitamin A...

Sharing the same view on the need to increase the amount of multi-micronutrient milk supplemented for children, Associate Professor, Doctor Le Bach Mai expressed concern when citing information from the Vietnam Dairy Association's 2018 report, the average milk consumption of Vietnamese people is only 27-28 liters of milk per person per year, still quite modest compared to Thailand, Singapore, and Japan. Milk producers should pay attention to adding more important micronutrients to milk products to help improve the health of Vietnamese people. According to a survey by the National Institute of Nutrition, the diet of most Vietnamese people does not meet the needs of vitamins and minerals, leading to micronutrient deficiencies.

Efforts to help Vietnamese children grow stronger

Recognizing the importance of milk for the development of children, especially those of school age, the Government issued Decision 1340/QD-TTg on July 8, 2016 approving the School Milk Program to improve nutritional status, contributing to improving the stature of preschool and primary school children by 2020. By June 2019, 11 provinces and cities across the country had successfully implemented this deeply humane program. In particular, the capital Hanoi implemented it on a very large scale, helping millions of children benefit from the program's humanity every day.

It is noted that many parents, even in urban areas, have a rather vague understanding of the importance of micronutrients. There are even many people who, when hearing that a food is supplemented with micronutrients, are not only unhappy but also feel uneasy because they think that their children's food "being" supplemented with micronutrients will lose its purity and safety.

These unfortunate misunderstandings have caused not only leading nutrition experts but also the Ministry of Health's inspection agency to "step in" and promptly speak up, both to protect the rights of the people and at the same time provide the most scientific explanations with full legality about humane products specifically for school-age children to be properly and fully understood.

Vietnamese children are still facing malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies, which are the main causes that negatively affect their height and intellectual growth. Photo: PV

Deputy Head of the Department of Micronutrients, National Institute of Nutrition Tran Khanh Van affirmed that the micronutrients added to school milk are completely consistent with the recommended nutritional levels for Vietnamese people and are essential to improve the micronutrient deficiency in children. The content of micronutrients added to milk is also within the content recommended by the National Institute of Nutrition, consistent with the recommendations of the World Health Organization for children from 6 months to 12 years old.

Professor Le Danh Tuyen emphasized: "For children who drink milk under the School Milk Program, using milk fortified with multi-micronutrients will be more beneficial for growth and development."
Even senior leaders of the Ministry of Health have spoken out to help people better understand the importance of using multiple micronutrients in school milk products.

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Viet Tien affirmed in a recent press conference on Micronutrient Day 2019: The type and content of micronutrients added to school milk follow the guidelines of the World Health Organization and are suitable for the nutritional needs of each age group in the table of recommended nutritional needs for Vietnamese people.

“The implementation of this program is completely transparent and very methodical, strictly following nutritional standards and criteria when put into use, ensuring to provide children with the necessary nutrition and micronutrients. Therefore, we can be completely assured about the use of micronutrients in school milk products”. I hope that organizations and the whole society will join hands and pay attention to supplementing micronutrients for children, avoiding unnecessary diseases caused by micronutrient deficiency.

Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Viet Tien

According to Ms. Tran Khanh Van, fortifying food with micronutrients has been done for a long time in many countries around the world. In Vietnam, not only school milk is supplemented with micronutrients but many other products are also supplemented with micronutrients. In addition to supplementing 3 mandatory micronutrients according to the Prime Minister's Decision for school milk, which are iron, vitamin D and calcium, adding other vitamins and minerals does not change the quality of milk but only increases the quality of milk. In particular, with school milk, the superiority in coverage and reasonable price when there is a connection and incentives from many forces will be an optimal solution to supplement school meals.