Cambodia’s sprouts of change: healthier futures through safer child nutrition in schools

Imagine travelling across vast fields of rice, when you suddenly find yourself in a schoolyard. A Buddhist pagoda with gardens and ornate shrines stands out, a bit farther from the school in front of you. Built on land donated by the pagoda, the school serves as a learning hub for 450 children in the community.

From morning to evening, the schoolyard is animated with the sights and aromas of food vendors. In this remote area, where shops are a rarity, these vendors are a vital link, responsible for providing nourishing meals for the children.  

It's in this setting that an ambitious project has just begun. Targeting 150 schools and their communities in four provinces, the project Reducing non-communicable disease (NCD) risk in Cambodia has an exciting goal: to ensure healthy nutrition and food safety for children in schools.  

Supported by a grant of $1.5 million, this initiative is about more than just providing nutritious meals for children. It is about cultivating sustainable health-enabling environments with the active participation of everyone – parents, children, teachers, authorities, and school food vendors – in creating a healthier future for the next generation.  

Cambodia's escalating triple threat of malnutrition, stemming from rapid socioeconomic development, has led to increased access to fatty, sugary, salty, and ultra-processed foods. This shift has exacerbated a triple burden of malnutrition, elevating the risk of NCDs in adulthood. A significant proportion of children under the age of 5 who are overweight are either chronically or acutely malnourished. Simultaneously, a concerning statistic reveals that over half of Cambodia's diabetic population remains untreated.

Tackling these systemic barriers is pivotal in preventing malnutrition, demanding a collective effort to forge healthy and sustainable environments. Despite government endeavors to influence children's diets, challenges persist due to the limited integration of Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport' Directive 18, early exposure to unhealthy foods, scant health education, and time and financial constraints when preparing nutritious meals. The new project aims to bolster the government through a multifaceted approach, encompassing health education, awareness campaigns, policy implementation, and stringent monitoring. At its core, the initiative seeks to instill understanding by fostering a process that genuinely encourages people to uphold these standards.