Translating national policies and guidelines into effective action at the subnational level is a prerequisite for ensuring an impact on nutrition. In Viet Nam this process is affected by the quality of the decentralized process of planning and action.

An Alive & Thrive (A&T) study in Viet Nam examined determinants of the gap between breastfeeding awareness and practices.

Despite evidence supporting the importance of breastfeeding to child health, breastfeeding practices remain suboptimal in Viet Nam. There is currently little evidence on the importance of breastfeeding in the prevention of morbidity during infancy in Viet Nam.

This study aimed to understand exclusive breastfeeding practices among mothers of four and six-month-old infants whose fathers received breastfeeding education materials and counseling services.

Despite the importance of early initiation of and exclusive breastfeeding, prelacteal feeds continue to pose a barrier to optimal breastfeeding practices in several countries. This study examined the factors associated with prelacteal feeding among Vietnamese mothers in 2011.

Household food insecurity (HFI) is a recognized underlying determinant of child undernutrition, but evidence of associations between HFI and child undernutrition is mixed.