Some 300,000 children in kindergartens and primary schools in HCM City will benefit from a school milk programme launched on October 31. — VNA/VNS Photo Đan Phương

HCM CITY — More than 300,000 kindergarten and first-grade students in 10 HCM City districts will benefit from a school milk programme launched on Thursday.

The programme will first be piloted in districts Thủ Đức, Tân Phú, Bình Tân, Củ Chi, Hóc Môn, Nhà Bè, Cần Giờ, Bình Chánh, 9, and 12 before being expanded city-wide.

The Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company (Vinamilk) will provide the milk for the programme, which will be implemented at all public and private kindergartens and primary schools and private creches.

Each child will receive five 180ml cartons of milk per week.

The cost will be borne by the city, enterprises and the parents of the children in a ratio of 30 per cent, 20 per cent and 50 per cent.

But disadvantaged children will get the milk for free.

Nguyễn Hữu Hưng, deputy director of the city Department of Health, said the average height of Vietnamese is less than that of other nationalities in Asia and elsewhere.

Nutrition plays an important role in a population’s height, he said.

“[The programme] will have an effect on children's height and also improve their physique and health.”

Bùi Thị Diễm Thu, deputy head of the Department of Education and Training, said the programme would help improve the nutritional status of children, reducing the rate of malnutrition, and contribute to human resources development.

“It aims to raise public awareness of the importance of nutrition to children's healthy growth and development, school meals and the use of milk and dairy products.”

About 80 per cent of schools in the designated districts with 53 per cent of their student population have registered to participate in the programme.

The department and Vinamilk have organised training for doctors, health workers, teachers, and parents in those districts.

Some 60 countries in the world run school milk programmes, while 17 cities and province in Việt Nam do. — VNS