Nutrition
clubs for 10,000 malnourished children in Vietnam
Your
donation will help to provide nutrition clubs for 10,000 malnourished children,
under age five, in the Vietnam provinces of Dien Vien, Yen Bai, and Quang Ngai
through One Goal partner World Vision Malaysia.
*All
donations to One Goal will support World Vision Malaysia projects in Vietnam to
improve child nutrition.
What
is a nutrition club?
It
is a sustainable, community managed behavior change intervention to prevent and
manage child malnutrition and increase access of the most vulnerable families to
food security and agriculture opportunities.
What
does a nutrition club do?
1.
To increase the knowledge and skills of caregivers of children under five years
for infant and young child feeding and caring practices.
2. To monitor the
growth of all children attending the nutrition club and counsel caregivers about
their child's nutrition status.
3. To strengthen the knowledge and skills of
community nutrition collaborators and village health workers to enable effective
facilitation of Nutrition Club Sessions for infant and young child feeding,
child care and child protection from accidents.
4. To increase awareness with
community leaders about child nutrition and advocate for local resources for
sustaining the Nutrition Club events.
Does
it work?
Yes!
Caregivers report improved feeding practices especially providing their children
an increased variety and amount of food. Several caregivers had started home
gardens, starting using organic fertilizer and joined the chicken raising
interest group that provides eggs and chicken to their child's diet. One mother
proudly showed the special patch of garden that she kept especially for her
daughter's vegetables.
At
a kindergarten competition, teams of parents including fathers of malnourished
children competed for the prize by producing the most nutritious complementary
meals with locally available foods. The teams also answered nutrition and
childcare questions from a panel of local community leaders. All the teams
demonstrated good knowledge and skills for infant and young child feeding
practices.
The
district and commune health staff reported an increased attendance at antenatal
care and delivery at the district hospital. Several caregivers reported
increased support from their partner and household members for attendance at the
nutrition club, as they saw the benefits for their child's health.
Efficiency
The
nutrition club effectively utilizes available resources. As nutrition club
facilitators also hold various other community leadership positions such as:
women's union, village development board and community health worker, it is easy
for them to link community members to interest groups and other locally
available opportunities.
Sustainability
and scalability
From
the beginning of implementation of the nutrition club approach, sustainability
is promoted by ensuring effective community mobilization. An agreement is made
between the community development board and World Vision Vietnam that World Vision Vietnam will support start-up
costs and provide running costs for the first four years of operations.
Who
is involved and what's the impact?
World
Vision Vietnam, the National Institute of Nutrition, the district and commune
health staff and community partners are to be commended for the huge achievement
of successfully establishing and scaling up the nutrition club approach to
reach 521 villages and 17,025 children, living in vulnerable communities in some
of the most remote districts in the country.
*All
donations to One Goal will support World Vision Malaysia projects in Vietnam to
improve child nutrition.
