A deepening double burden of malnutrition, including persistent undernutrition and surging obesity, is turning school nutrition into a strategic lever to safeguard children’s physical and cognitive development and fortify the country’s future workforce.
Foundation for holistic development
Dr. Le Thai Ha from the Ministry of Health’s Department of Disease Prevention, said Vietnam has made measurable strides in school nutrition over the recent years. The legal framework has gradually been refined, the average height of Vietnamese youth has improved markedly, and school meal models now reach preschools and primary schools nationwide.
Notably, stunting among children aged 5–19 tumbled from 23.4% in 2010 to 14.8% in 2020, pushing Vietnam past the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2.2 threshold of sub-20% stunting.
Yet the country is now grappling with a “double burden” of malnutrition. Too many children lack critical nutrients while over-consuming energy-dense, nutrient-poor foods.
A national nutrition survey shows that 17% of 10- to-14-year-olds are iron deficient, a key driver of anemia that erodes concentration, academic performance and physical development. Stunting and wasting persist in remote, mountainous and ethnic minority areas.
At the same time, overweight and obesity are accelerating, especially in urban areas. The share of children aged 5–19 who are overweight or obese more than doubled from 8.5% in 2010 to 19% in 2020, hitting 26.8% in urban zones. The shift mirrors changing lifestyles, diets and surging intake of processed foods and sugary drinks.
Raising the bar for school meals
Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Tri Thuc called for tighter institutional frameworks and forceful policies to upgrade the stature and physical fitness of future generations.
Prof. Dr. Tran Thanh Duong, Director of the National Institute of Nutrition, urged coordinated action to lift school lunch quality, issue nutrition standards, deepen research and deliver policy recommendations to sharpen the legal framework, ultimately moving toward enshrining nutrition rules into law so school meals deliver on their promise.
UNICEF said Vietnam should treat school nutrition investment as a core workforce development strategy. It called for robust policymaking and enforcement to guarantee all students’ safe, nutritious, affordable food and clean drinking water at school.
It also pressed for tougher shields against marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages, transparent front-of-pack labeling, and incentives that tilt choices toward healthier diets.
School meals should deliver balanced nutrition tuned to students’ tastes and growth needs, with priority given to locally sourced food to boost diversity, safety and sustainability. Nutrition education must be woven into curricula to build awareness and healthy habits, UNICEF added.
Furthermore, strengthening national nutrition standards and expanding school-based nutrition education through hands-on activities, experiential learning and guidance on smart food choices are seen as essential to locking in healthier lifestyles.
With an appropriate policy framework and coordinated investment, Vietnam stands a better chance of cutting malnutrition, lifting the physical stature of its population and hitting the targets laid out in the National Nutrition Strategy for 2021–2030./.
