The Lao PDR still does not have an explicit nutrition policy or a national food and nutrition plan. While a newly created National Committee on Food and Nutrition exists, it lacks a clear mandate to carry out the necessary steps for solving the nation's food and nutrition problems. Generally, the government views nutrition as a family responsibility, and consequently central level authorities have allocated a limited health budget for nutrition activities. The target population for government policy is preschool children,. representing a very small percentage of the total child population.

Micronutrient deficiencies are also an important nutritional problem in Lao PDR. Although up to the present there have been no detail precided data but most of those deficiencies are as below.

Iodine deficiency

The effects of household food security issues are most clearly reflected in the nation's food and nutrition status. As with any quantitative assessment for the Lao PDR, however, the food and nutrition situation presented here must be considered very carefully, since information systems are only rudimentarily developed and there are no institutionalized nutrition surveys. Even where nutrition status data are available, explicit statements of definitions, criteria, cut-off points, and the like are frequently varied and sometimes even missing. Nonetheless, data from a few prior nutrition surveys. current hospital records, site visits, and interviews highlight the Lao PDR's present nutrition problems and their extent.

This article provides information from the Lao People's Democratic Republic on household food security, current nutrition problems, their magnitudes and trends, food and nutrition policy and activities, and strategies for the development of short- and long-term approaches to dealing with the problems. The data were collected through published and unpublished documents, observations of Lao PDR medical and health facilities, rural schools, and villages, and interviews with Laotian nutrition and health specialists. The findings show that house-hold food security rests unstably on a risk-diffusion strategy and women's participation. A number of nutrition disorders are also prevalent. Control strategies require both long- and short-term actions focusing on assessment, advocacy, planning, training, appropriate model development, and communication for food and nutrition.