Asia's rice bowl

Myanmar Ministry of Health is planning to conduct a nationwide survey on nutrition before the end of this year, sources with the ministry said on Saturday.

The survey will be launched by the ministry in cooperation with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

Since 1954, the Ministry of Health has been working on nutritional development with the result that Myanmar could deal with health problems such as deficiencies of protein, vitamins and iodine.

According to a 2013 household survey by the Livelihoods and Food Security Trust Fund (LIFT), only one in three Myanmar children aged two and under eat sufficiently diverse diets.

Myanmar people rely on rice as their main food, with the consumption of body-building and protective foods being low compared to other countries.