Vietnam can make a huge difference in eliminating malnutrition for particular two groups of children, including those who are at risk of the symptom and staying in hospitals, said Dr. Robert Murray, Professor of Human Nutrition from the College of Education and Human Ecology, under the U.S.-based Ohio State University. The U.S. expert spoke of measures to put an end to malnutrition for children in Vietnam with the state-run newswire VietnamNews, on the sidelines of the recently-held fourth Annual Abbott Nutrition Health Institute Global Growth Summit in Stockholm, Sweden. Between the two groups, one is children with the risk of malnutrition, but not yet malnourished, Dr. Robert Murray suggested treating them aggressively and not letting them fall. The other is the kids in hospitals. The longer they stay, the more screening and the bigger risk of the condition. As they start to fall, it is necessary to utilize nutritional tools right then and stop it, he added. Currently, Vietnam has 25% of children, who are underweight due to malnutrition out of total, and the rate may reach 30% in northwest and Central Highlands regions, higher than that the rate of 8% in the Asia-Pacific region, according to report released at a conference last October by the UNICEF Vietnam. (Vietnam News, VietnamNews)
