Adolescence is known as a period of rapid growth and development in children’s physiological, cognitive, and psychological status, which requires an increase in their macronutrient and micronutrient needs compared to adults. However, adolescents’ diets in many places are inadequate, leading to their stunted physical growth, poor cognitive and development, and other dietary risks, especially in low- and middle-income countries. As such, to address adolescents’ nutritional demands, improving diets and nutrition requires a food systems approach that recognizes the correlation between food systems and adolescents’ living conditions
The project in collaboration of MDRI and National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), funded by The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), will investigate holistically food environments of adolescents in the Vietnamese context to contribute additional evidence to the adolescent nutrition research landscape. Specifically, the assignment will respond to the following objectives:
- Describe and assess the nutritional status, dietary intake, and physical activity patterns of adolescents (and their primary caregivers) in urban, peri-urban, and rural Vietnam;
- Assess the food environments where these adolescents are exposed to and how these relate to adolescents’ diets;
- Identify micro-, small-, and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs) that have the potential to increase delivery of specific types of more sustainable, nutritious foods and to understand labor structure within those enterprises.
The project comprises of multiple phases with different components:
Phase 1: Conduct interviews with 2880 adolescents and their primary caregivers on nutrition knowledge in Hanoi and Son La
Phase 2.1:
- Conduct interviews with 2880 adolescents’ households from Phase 1 on food and non food expenditure in Hanoi and Son La
- Record adolescents’ physical activity and mobility, using specialized equipments within 7 days in Hanoi and Son La
- Conduct interviews with schools attended by the sampled adolescents
Phase 2.2: Conduct a census of all food vendors where adolescents from Phase 1 reside
Phase 2.3: Conduct interviews with 10% of food vendors listed from Phase 2.2
Phase 2.4: Conduct phone surveys with providers of food vendors interviewed from Phase 2.3
Main tasks:
- Prepare IRB
- Finalize and pilot the research tools
- Develop sampling strategies
- Liaising with stakeholders at different levels (DOET, BOET, Schools, etc)
- Recruit and provide training to enumerators, compose the training manual
- Organize data collection activities and enforce a robust supervision mechanism, ensuring high quality and efficiency
- Perform data cleaning and quality control
- Submit the final datasets
- Produce and submit final survey report
- Cooperate with National Nutrition Institute (NIN) for project implementation
