Reaching Children with Nutrition in Rural China

As we continued our trip to follow up on the Abbott Fund Institute of Nutrition Science’s pediatric nutrition program  in rural China, we traveled the short distance from Leye County City to the Huayan Primary Boarding School, which is situated at the top of a mountain.  The facilities at the Huayan School were more basic than the facilities at the Quanda School, where we were the day before.

We had the opportunity to observe a literature lesson. It was remarkable. We heard a sing-song as the children were reading out loud from their literature books. I asked Tracy Huang what the children were saying, and she initially said that the children were not reading in Mandarin. Upon closer examination, they were reading in Mandarin. However, their southern accent made it difficult for the Shanghai team to understand them.

As we did at the Quanda School the day before, we presented the top 40 performers at the Huayan School with backpacks equipped with school supplies, and the remainder of the children received gift bags. After some speeches and presentations, the older children sat for Xie’s lesson on proper nutrition. After the lesson, the children gathered their gifts and sauntered off the mountain to their respective homes. I was amazed watching the tiny preschoolers with their gift bags walking up the steep dirt road towards their homes.I wondered how long it took them to get home and how safe it was for them to walk along the narrow dirt roads along the mountain, where there is very little clearance and steep drops.

Altogether, the trip was a success. The team of healthcare professionals and local politicians were pleased with the progress the children were making. There is greater awareness about nutrition, and the facilities are being improved. There is still more to be done. The continued efforts to educate, promote healthy eating and build better facilities and small farms at the schools will ensure that the children attending these mountain boarding schools will be well prepared to go on to secondary school.