On July 3rd, 2018, Kien Giang Department of Education and Training, in cooperation with Ajinomoto Vietnam, held a conference on deploying the Nutrition-balanced Menu Development Software to primary boarding schools throughout the province.

Mr. Trieu Tri Binh – Branch Manager of Ajinomoto Vietnam was sharing the goals of the School Meal Project

A close look at the nutrition-balanced meal applying the Nutrition-balanced Menu Development Software at Chu Van An Primary School.

The first Model Kitchen in the North is expected to provide nutrition-balanced lunches for about 1,500 pupils of Hoang Van Thu Primary School.

Vietnam is currently facing a double burden of nutrition. The incidence of child malnutrition in rural areas has been on the rise, while overweight and obesity among children and adults in urban areas has been increasing.

Improving the nutritional status of children through rational school meals is one of the key contents of the National Strategy in Nutrition and the General Plan for Physical and Stature Development of Vietnamese People in the period of 2011- 2030.

However, school nutrition, especially in elementary school - a particularly important period, plays a fundamental role in the comprehensive development of the children’s stature and intellect, yet has not been cared well.

Primary boarding schools also encounter many difficulties in organizing meals due to the limitation in nutritional knowledge, the lack of experience in building menus meeting nutritional needs and appropriate for the monthly budget.

Taking this reality, Ajinomoto Vietnam researched and initiated the School Meal Project in 2012 with the aim of “carrying out the responsibility of contributing to education, nurturing and training future generations of the country through nutrition and health improving activities, thereby improving stature and mentality of primary pupils”. In which, the Nutrition-balanced Menu Development Software is one of the main contents.

The software offers schools a diverse menu bank, including 120 available set menus with over 360 non-repeatable lunch dishes that are balanced based on the needs of ages, diverse, delicious, and divided into 3 regions: the North, the Central and the South.

Based on 360 dishes available in the menu bank or local available ingredients, schools can create new menus ensured balance in nutrition. Besides, the software supports schools in calculating and managing pupils’ meal fee.

In order to educate pupils on nutritional knowledge, the illustration poster of "Three minutes to change awareness" is also deployed to schools. Nutritional information illustrated in specific images helps children easily absorb and recognize nutritional values, thereby forming healthy eating habits.
Also under the framework of the Project, Model Kitchens of Japanese standard have also been built for schools to visit and study.

In addition to the Model Kitchen at Trung Trac Primary School, Ho Chi Minh City, the Pproject has just inaugurated the second Model Kitchen at Hoang Van Thu Primary School, Lang Son  City with the total construction cost of nearly 2.3 billion VND under the main sponsorship of the Embassy of Japan in Vietnam through the Grants Assistance for the Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP) from the People of Japan.

Until April 2018, the School Meal Project has been implemented in 34 provinces and cities with 2,910 primary boarding schools across the country.

With practical meanings, Ajinomoto Vietnam expects to further spread the Project to schools, thereby contributing to enhancing stature and intellect for future generations.