Nutritional supplementation during the period from conception to two years of age reduces the risk of disease and mortality in young children.
The information was given by Dr. Clair-Yves Boquien, CRNH Human Nutrition Research Center (France) at the International Conference "Formulated Nutrition Products from Fresh Milk - Golden Nutrition for the Golden Age, Helping Children Develop Comprehensively". The event was organized by TH Group , taking place on June 8 with the participation of more than 300 guests, including experts, representatives of organizations, and nutrition agencies at home and abroad.
In the paper "The importance of formula nutrition in the first years of a child's life", Dr. Clair-Yves Boquien affirmed that in the first 1,000 days, from the fetal stage to the age of two, if nutritional intervention is given, the child can reduce the risk of many diseases throughout his life. The later this process occurs, the lower the rate of limiting the risk of disease.
In addition, the brain continues to develop after birth. In the first 1-2 years of life, the brain weight increases three times. This is a very fast rate. Therefore, children need protein and nutrients.
The power of early nutritional intervention for children, according to research from the University of Auckland (Australia) in 2022.
Dr. Clair-Yves Boquien analyzed that breast milk consists of: fat (4%), protein (1%), minerals (0.2%), carbohydrates (7%) and the rest is water. Of which, the carbohydrates in breast milk contain a large amount of complex sugar. However, WHO recommends that from about 6 months of age, the energy and nutrient needs of infants begin to exceed the ability to be provided by breast milk.
Therefore, children need to be exclusively breastfed for the first 6 months. After that, mothers should use safe complementary foods to meet the nutritional needs of their children's development, in parallel with breastfeeding until the age of two. With this need, scientists have developed a nutritional formula milk product that "simulates" the composition of breast milk to help children supplement nutrients.
Compared to breast milk, these products still have changes in proportion such as reducing protein, adding soluble fiber (FOS, GOS), adding milk fat..., depending on the criteria of each country. Accordingly, formula nutritional products for children have the ability to improve stool stability, enhance bone development, stimulate the growth of intestinal bacteria, improve the immune system...
Dr. Clair-Yves Boquien, CRNH Human Nutrition Research Center (France) shared at the event. Photo: TH Group
He gave an example of the benefits of nutritional intervention for children over one year old. In a study in Malawa (Poland), scientists provided food with low linoleic acid content, supplemented with DHA to children with acute malnutrition to improve cognition. The experiment was a randomized, triple-blind, controlled clinical trial.
Results showed that treatment of uncomplicated acute malnutrition with DHA resulted in cognitive benefits 6 months after completion of the intervention.
However, in Vietnam, the issue of nutrition for young children still faces many difficulties. In the discussion "Nutrition status and intervention strategies in Vietnam", Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Lam presented the results of the 2019-2020 National Nutrition Survey conducted by the National Institute of Nutrition, the status of micronutrient deficiency in children under 5 years old nationwide is as follows: 58% of children are zinc deficient, 19.6% of children are anemic, 19.6% are stunted.
Stunting among school-age children, aged 5 to 19, also reached 14.8%. The overweight and obesity rate among school-age children increased from 8.5% in 2010 to 19% in 2020, of which in urban areas it reached 26.8%.
In addition, the height of Vietnamese youth has increased, with the average height of men reaching 168.1 cm and that of women reaching 156.2 cm. However, this figure is still lower than many countries in the region and lower than WHO standards. Research by the Southeast Asian Nutrition Organization also shows that Vietnamese children's daily meals lack up to 50% of their micronutrient needs.
Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Lam shares about the nutritional situation in Vietnam. Photo: TH Group
The Government has set out the "National Nutrition Strategy for the 2021-2030 period" to ensure proper nutrition, thereby improving nutrition suitable for each subject, locality, region, and ethnicity; contributing to reducing the burden of disease, improving the stature, physical strength and intelligence of Vietnamese people.
This strategy has 5 goals and 20 targets on diet implementation; improving nutritional quality, controlling overweight and malnutrition in many subjects such as children, adolescents, adults and mothers.
Accordingly, TH Group has introduced a new solution to accompany the government in achieving these goals. The unit launched the first fresh milk formula nutritional product in Vietnam - TH true Formula with a source of nutrition to meet the comprehensive development of children.
"TH true Formula is a source of nutrition combined with raw fresh milk from international standard farms and the research efforts of TH Nutrition Institute, along with many prestigious nutrition organizations in the world," the group's representative shared.
To launch this product line, TH Group has cooperated with NIZO Food and Health Research Center (Netherlands), CRNH (France), National Institute of Nutrition and many domestic experts, including Prof. Dr. Le Thi Hop - former Director of National Institute of Nutrition.
At the workshop, experts from these partners stated that about 54% of a child's maximum height is reached by the age of three; 32% is reached by the age of 12. Thus, the period from 0 to 12 years old is the "golden" period that determines the development of a person's stature, physical strength and intelligence.
Nutritional products formulated from fresh milk - TH true Formula. Photo: TH Group
TH Group researches and develops TH true Formula products with the goal of providing nutritional solutions to help children develop comprehensively in terms of brain, resistance, digestion and absorption in each stage. At the same time, the unit launches an additional line of powdered formula nutrition products for children from 2 to 6 years old with milk ingredients from international standard farms in Australia to meet diverse needs and consumer habits.
TH true Formula nutritional products have many characteristics of breast milk such as macronutrients, vitamins, minerals, microorganisms... The main nutrients are all from natural sources such as MFGM, DHA, ARA, HMO, FOS, GOS..., strictly quality tested, meeting National Technical Regulations for nutritional formula products for the purpose of supplementary feeding for children.
Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Lam, former Deputy Director of the National Institute of Nutrition, also said that nutritional products formulated from fresh milk with butter, aromatic flavor and more attractive to children, at the same time, ensure convenience when going to school, going out...
This product line complies with the standards of the Vietnamese Ministry of Health's set of regulations for formula nutrition products for children from 6 to 36 months old and international CODEX, which includes detailed and specific regulations and strict requirements on energy, protein, fat concentration...
"Milk produced for the Vietnamese market will be more suitable for Vietnamese people. Experts will increase it based on the average level of micronutrient deficiency," she affirmed.
For example, formula products are required to contain iodine, but domestic Japanese products do not contain this substance because seaweed is already present in the daily diet. If Vietnamese mothers use it for their children, it will affect their intellectual development and thyroid condition.
Nhat Le
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