{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T01:27:42Z","timestamp":1760059662197,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,27]],"date-time":"2025-06-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1750982400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"the Ministry of Education and Training, Vietnam","award":["B2023-TTB-04"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["B2023-TTB-04"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Vietnam is experiencing a significant \u201cdouble burden\u201d of malnutrition, characterized by the persistent challenge of undernutrition, particularly stunting in ethnic minority and mountainous regions, alongside a rising prevalence of overweight and obesity. Understanding dual nutritional status and its related factors in adolescents from these vulnerable areas is crucial for effective intervention. Objective: The current study explored the nutritional status of ethnic minority secondary school students in some mountainous provinces in the northwest of Vietnam and identified some related factors. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study over six months (June\u2013December 2023), involving 1847 ethnic minority high school students from Son La and Dien Bien provinces, recruited through convenience sampling in primary healthcare settings. Nutritional status was determined using WHO 2006 Child Growth Standards, specifically height-for-age Z-scores (HAZ) and body mass index (BMI)-for-age Z-scores (BAZ). A 4-point scale assessed nutritional practices, including food consumption frequency and eating habits. Results: This study identified a stunting (HAZ &lt; \u22122 SD) prevalence of 16.7% and wasting (BAZ &lt; \u22122 SD) of 5.6%; overweight\/obesity (BAZ &gt; +1 SD) prevalence was 8.2%. Key factors related to stunting were being male, having more siblings, poor\/near-poor household economic status, low maternal education level, and frequent occurrences of gastrointestinal and respiratory diseases. A higher risk of overweight\/obesity was associated with consuming more than three meals daily, nocturnal snacking, frequent intake of fried foods, insufficient consumption of vegetables and fruits, and inadequate daily physical activity. Conclusions: Our study shows a comprehensive picture of malnutrition among children in ethnic minority areas. Essential nutritional intervention programs, projects, and models are a top priority to reduce the disease burden for children\u2019s bright future and to enhance socio-economic development in the mountainous regions of Vietnam.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph22071021","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,30]],"date-time":"2025-06-30T03:54:28Z","timestamp":1751255668000},"page":"1021","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Nutritional Practices Among Ethnic Minority High School Students in Mountainous Regions, Vietnam"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"22","author":[{"given":"Nhung Thi","family":"Ninh","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Thai Binh University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Thai Binh 410000, Vietnam"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Chinh Thi Kieu","family":"Pham","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Thai Binh University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Thai Binh 410000, Vietnam"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Nga Thi Thanh","family":"Nguyen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Tay Bac University, Son La 34000, Vietnam"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Tu Thi Thanh","family":"Pham","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Tay Bac University, Son La 34000, Vietnam"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Huong Thi Lan","family":"Dao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Tay Bac University, Son La 34000, Vietnam"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lien Phuong","family":"Vu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Tay Bac University, Son La 34000, Vietnam"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Minh Thi","family":"Tran","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Tay Bac University, Son La 34000, Vietnam"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Quang Van","family":"Mai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Tay Bac University, Son La 34000, Vietnam"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"111565","DOI":"10.1016\/j.nut.2021.111565","article-title":"Determinants of malnutrition among children: A systematic review","volume":"96","author":"Katoch","year":"2022","journal-title":"Nutrition"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"349","DOI":"10.1108\/NFS-03-2023-0055","article-title":"Tackling child malnutrition and food security: Assessing progress, challenges, and policies in achieving SDG 2 in India","volume":"54","author":"Katoch","year":"2024","journal-title":"Nutr. 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