Health ministry planning to expand nutritional health services
TEHRAN – The health ministry is planning to expand nutritional health services with the help of healthcare offices across the country.
So far, nutritional health services have been provided primarily by healthcare networks. However, the new policies focus on the expansion of the nutritional health care through offering services at healthcare offices, as well, ISNA quoted Ahmad Esmaeilzadeh as saying.
Healthcare offices have provided environmental health services in the nongovernmental sector for years. Following the plan, they will offer educational health services to people, and in the next step, they will start providing consulting services, he noted.
Presently, the health ministry is developing educational programs for pregnant and lactating mothers, patients with diabetes, overweight and underweight people, as well as determining financial tariffs, the official added.
The plan will also create job opportunities for those majors in the field of nutrition, Esmaeilzadeh said.
National campaign on healthy diet
The national campaign to promote healthy eating habits kicked off on December 6, 2025, and ran for over two weeks.
Held annually, the campaign aims to raise public awareness of the importance of healthy eating. Themed ‘health and bread’, this year’s campaign highlighted the significance of consuming healthy bread, the health ministry reported.
Each day of the week will focus on a specific topic as follows.
Saturday, December 6, ‘Choosing healthy bread’
Sunday, December 7, ‘Healthy bread and family’
Monday, December 8, ‘Healthy bread and non-communicable diseases’
Tuesday, December 9, ‘Healthy bread and media’
Wednesday, December 10, ‘Healthy bread and policymakers’
Thursday, December 11, ‘Traditional bread and industrial bread’
Friday, December 12, ‘Healthy bread and its nutrients’
Saturday, December 13, ‘Healthy bread and bakers’
Sunday, December 14, ‘Healthy bread and people’s demand’
Monday, December 15, ‘Enriching bread’
Tuesday, December 16, ‘Healthy bread and ways to keep it’
Wednesday, December 17, ‘Bread waste in the country’
Thursday, December 18, ‘Healthy bread and its price’
Friday, December 19, ‘Healthy bread and women’s role’
Saturday, December 20, ‘Healthy bread and food industry’
Sunday, December 21, ‘Healthy bread and manufacturers’
Malnutrition among children under five drops by 42%
Thanks to the effective implementation of the national child care nutrition program, the prevalence of malnutrition among children under the age of five has decreased by 42 percent in the country, the deputy health minister, Alireza Raeisi, said in August 2025.
Highlighting the importance of the anthropometric indicators in assessing children’s nutritional status, the official said ‘weight for age’, ‘weight for height’, and ‘height for age’ are among the crucial indicators, the health ministry reported.
According to the latest report, the prevalence of being underweight, wasting, and stunting among children under the age of five is 4.3, 4.3, and 4.8 percent, respectively, which is in low prevalence classification according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
All the children covered by the program will be monitored regularly; in case any growth disorders or malnutrition signs are observed, they will be referred to a nutritionist at comprehensive health service centers, he added.
The child care nutrition program was launched in the fall of 2023 to improve the nutritional status of children through means testing and the cooperation of the Planning and Budget Organization and the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare.
The budget allocated to the program has increased from 14 trillion rials (about $14.5 million) in the year to March 2024 to 30 trillion rials in the current year. During the same period, the number of children has increased from 134,000 to 200,000.
The Ministry of Health, in cooperation with the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare, identifies, collects, and checks children’s information based on priorities. Eligible children will be identified to be supported with the program.
MT/MG