The saying "when the youth are strong, the country is strong" means the young generation's health determines a country's future. In many countries, improving students' nutrition has been adopted as a significant measure to promote equity and narrow the social gap. China has been implementing a nutrition enhancement program for students receiving compulsory education in rural areas since 2011. It provides 40 million rural children from the first grade to the ninth with nutritious food at school.

Studies have shown that preschool nutrition, especially before a child is 3 years old, has a significant impact on individual growth, including intellectual development and mental health. However, although the National Health Commission and many government departments as well as the nonprofit China Children and Teenagers' Fund and other organizations have launched nutritious meal projects, they still don't cover all preschool children.

In rural areas, many children left at home by their migrant worker parents are raised by grandparents, who lack the awareness or ability to provide a healthy diet even if they have the money to do so.

In order to improve children's nutrition in rural areas, it is necessary to establish a cooperative mechanism led by the government with the participation of public interest organizations and enterprises. Also, administrations should design specific rules to clarify funding, evaluation, accountability and other issues, as well as guidelines for providing balanced and nutritious meals in kindergartens.The guidelines should also provide some suggestions for the guardians of the left-behind children.

This is an edited excerpt of an article originally published in People's Daily on September 18

(Print Edition Title: Children's Meals)