Nutrition Education and Promotion Project

While there is abundant information about nutrition in Japan and nutrition education is valued in Japanese schools, Cambodian children hardly have an opportunity to learn about nutrition and food. The main reasons are due to the fact that nutrition education is not incorporated in education curriculums, and there are not enough teachers who can teach about nutrition in the country. Average weights and heights of Cambodian children are significantly lower than children in other Southeast Asian countries. Thus, it is apparent that they need nutrition education in order to improve their eating habits.

In the “Nutrition and Diet Management Project” that FIDR had conducted from 2014 to 2016, we developed Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) and Food-Based Dietary Guidelines (FBDG) for school-aged children with the collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MoH), the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MoEYS) and other international r organizations in Cambodia. FBDG is the first recommendation guidelines for healthy eating based on scientific evidences in Cambodia, including a food pyramid which is a simple visual guide to the food types and proportion for good health. In 2017, both RDA and FBDG were endorsed by MoH, followed by MoEYS. In addition, it is also introduced on the website of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).