Factors determining height and physical strength in adulthood

Both urban and rural areas will have school meals.

Today, October 12, in Hanoi, more than 300 delegates, including nutrition experts, domestic scientists and experts from Japan and the US, attended an international conference on school nutrition. The conference was co-organized by the Institute of Nutrition (Ministry of Health) and the Japan Nutrition Association, with the support of TH Group.

School meals need to ensure age-appropriate nutrition recommendations to prevent malnutrition and control the risk of obesity.

At the workshop, Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Thanh Duong, Director of the Institute of Nutrition, assessed that Vietnamese children are facing three nutritional burdens: malnutrition (especially stunting), overweight and obesity, and micronutrient deficiencies.

According to the 2023 national survey, the rate of stunting in children under 5 years old in Vietnam is 18.2%. The rate of overweight and obesity is increasing in all subjects, of which overweight and obesity in children aged 5-19 years old is up to 19% in 2020 (more than double after 10 years).

According to Mr. Duong, the Government has issued the National Nutrition Strategy for the 2021-2030 period, with specific goals to improve the nutritional status of the entire population, especially school-age children and adolescents.

The strategy's key objectives include: reducing the rate of stunting in children under 5 years old to below 15% by 2030; controlling the rate of overweight and obesity in children, especially in urban areas, with the aim of keeping this rate below 19% for children aged 5-18 years old by 2030.

Strengthen nutrition education in schools, with 60% of urban schools and 40% of rural schools providing school meals with menus meeting recommended needs by 2025; striving to reach 90% and 80% respectively by 2030.

The Director of the Institute of Nutrition also said that in the field of school nutrition, achieving these goals requires comprehensive, continuous, interdisciplinary interventions, with the participation of families, businesses and the entire community. Parents need to be equipped with nutritional knowledge to help their children maintain healthy eating habits both at school and at home.

The Director of the Institute of Nutrition said that about 86% of maximum adult height is determined during the period under 12 years old.

It is necessary to improve the mechanism and policies on nutrition to facilitate implementation, and it is time to build a School Nutrition Law.

Associate Professor Duong emphasized that about 86% of a person's maximum height is achieved under the age of 12, which is the time that determines the maximum development of stature, physical strength and intelligence. In addition, appropriate nutritional interventions are needed throughout the life cycle.

Many studies show that height development depends 20% on genetics, while nutrition, exercise and environment account for 80%.

School nutrition improves stature

At the conference, nutrition experts said that science has proven that about 86% of a person's maximum height is achieved under the age of 12. This is the stage that determines the maximum development of a person's stature, physical strength and intelligence, including two important stages: the first 1,000 days of life and the next stage is from 2 to 12 years old, school age. Therefore, the issue of nutritional care for children at this stage, especially school nutrition, needs to be fully understood in order to have effective implementation solutions.

Regarding the successes of the school meal program with reasonable nutrition in Japan, Professor Nakamura Teiji, President of the Japan Nutrition Association, shared that in 1954, Japan enacted the School Lunch Law. In 2005, the Japanese Government enacted the Basic Law on Food and Nutrition Education.

According to Professor Nakamura Teiji, the law both standardizes school meals and focuses on developing nutrition education. To date, 99% of elementary schools and 91.5% of junior high schools in Japan have applied this program. As a result, malnutrition has decreased significantly, and average stature and height have increased.

According to the latest survey results released by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare in 2023, the average height of Japanese people is: 1.72 m for men and 1.58 m for women. 50 years ago, these numbers were only 1.5 m and 1.49 m, respectively.

At the workshop, Professor, Doctor - Doctor Le Thi Hop, President of the Vietnam Association of Women Intellectuals, former Director of the Institute of Nutrition, said that legalizing school nutrition in our country is an urgent issue, in order to have a sustainable and synchronous solution.

School nutrition activities help standardize meals for students, standardize processing procedures, increase awareness of healthy nutrition to help children develop comprehensively, and reduce the risk of chronic diseases related to nutrition later on.

The law also provides a basis for stipulating that school nutritionists must be properly trained; nutrition knowledge must be included in formal lessons for students; and coordination between families and schools must be enhanced in providing nutritional care for students.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/dinh-duong-hoc-duong-yeu-to-quyet-dinh-chieu-cao-the-luc-khi-truong-thanh-185241012164831824.htm