School food environment policies in Vietnam: A narrative literature and policy review of policy domains, implementation mechanisms, and evidence gaps

Objective: To conduct a narrative review and synthesize existing policies and evidence on the school food environment in Vietnam, with a focus on policy frameworks, intervention domains, and implementation mechanisms, and to identify key policy and evidence gaps to inform more coherent and effective policy development.

Methods: A narrative literature and policy review was conducted, integrating peer-reviewed studies from Scopus and Web of Science with national policy documents related to school nutrition, food safety, and health promotion. Sources were purposively selected based on their relevance to the analytical framework and synthesized narratively. The synthesis was guided by a policy-oriented analytical framework that combined international guidance on healthy school food environments with key intervention domains.

Results and Discussion: Vietnam's school food environment is governed by a multi-layered policy framework that includes  political directions, foundational legislation, and subordinate legal instruments, and is operationalised through multiple stakeholders. Four main policy domains were derived from the policy framework: capacity-building, nutritional standards, food environment regulation, and physical activity promotion. Empirical evidence on policy impacts was more available and consistent for interventions targeting dietary quality, whereas  evidence related to  capacity-building and regulatory approaches remained limited and context-dependent. Three broad categories of gaps emerged: policy scope gaps related to the regulation of the external food environment, food marketing, and fiscal measures; implementation gaps, including inconsistent enforcement and urban–rural heterogeneity with implications for equity; and evidence gaps, particularly the limited availability of Vietnam-specific cost and cost-effectiveness data.

Conclusions: Vietnam has established a comprehensive policy framework for school food environments; however, the strength of supporting evidence and consistency of implementation remain uneven across domains. Strengthening intersectoral coordination, implementation capacity, regulation of the external food environment, and Vietnam-specific evidence will be essential for more equitable and scalable policy development. 

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