Viet Nam reduces child stunting to 18.2% with increased nutrition investment

By embedding key nutrition actions into three National Targeted Programmes (namely the New Rural Development Programme, the Sustainable Poverty Reduction Programme and the Social and Economic Development for Ethnic Minorities one), Viet Nam has made remarkable progress in tackling malnutrition. This effort, supported by the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement, has led to the creation of a dedicated budget for nutrition services and expanded access to essential interventions for children in poverty and ethnic minority communities. Furthermore, child stunting in Viet Nam has dropped to 18.2% nation-wide and 26.4% in targeted areas – well ahead of the country’s 2025 target of 27%.

Youth in mountainous, rural, and lower-income areas suffer from malnutrition at twice the rate of the rest of the population, in part because they historically have had limited access to nutrition services. Recognizing these disparities, Viet Nam set out to identify the most vulnerable groups, analyze budget gaps, and implement targeted solutions.

This effort gained momentum in 2020, when the Viet Nam National Assembly unanimously approved at least US$6 billion for the National Targeted Programme for Ethnic Minority Development and  US$3.2 billion for the National Targeted Programme for Poverty Reduction, which includes a strong focus on nutrition. Now in its first phase through 2025, the programme takes a holistic approach to poverty reduction, recognizing that lifting communities out of poverty requires more than just economic support. It integrates nutrition, education, clean water and sanitation, and other essential services. This is helping to address the root causes of malnutrition, and thus to create long-term, sustainable change.

Key stakeholders played a crucial role in making this progress possible. The SUN Government Network established a strong business case for investing in nutrition, while also providing guidance, support, and supervision. The SUN Civil Society Alliance Viet Nam, launched in 2019, provided critical evidence for policy advocacy, co-designed participatory budget tracking, and worked with the National Assembly on joint supervision and monitoring of budget allocation and spending—though this process remains ad hoc rather than regular and systematic. Meanwhile, UN-Nutrition Member Agencies and donors strengthened the case for action by joining an advocacy alliance and sending recommendation letters to the government.

“The National Targeted Programme on Poverty Reduction prioritizes nutrition and housing,” said Mr. Dao Ngoc Dung, Minister of Labor, Invalid and Social Affairs. “This integrated approach is essential for addressing the needs of our most vulnerable populations.”

So far, these efforts have yielded concrete results. In addition to increasing the national nutrition budget and expanding the coverage of essential nutrition actions, Viet Nam has already surpassed its 2025 child stunting target, with rates dropping to 18.2% in 2023. Wasting prevalence now stands at 5.2%, just over half the regional average and the low public health significance threshold, established by the World Health Organization.

Viet Nam’s success highlights the importance of evidence-based decision-making and aligning nutrition policy and programming with broader development goals. By linking nutrition with poverty reduction and ensuring strong commitment across sectors, the country has created a model for how governments can tackle malnutrition sustainably and at scale. Moving forward, long-term success will depend on continued multi-stakeholder collaboration, health systems strengthening, and a whole-of-society approach to nutrition.