The Asia Pacific Infant and Young Child Nutrition Association (APIYCNA) was established in 2010 and is a not-for-profit organization that represents the interests of the infant and young child industry in the Asia Pacific. APIYCNA aims to improve the nutritional well-being of infants and young children throughout the region. Headquartered in Singapore, APIYCNA comprises of five member companies that have a global presence in nutrition products – Abbott Nutrition, Danone Asia Pacific, FrieslandCampina, Nestlé and Reckitt. The association is also a member of the International Special Dietary Food Industries (ISDI), the leading international expert association on special dietary foods.
APIYCNA’s Mission
In line with the World Health Organization’s (WHO) position, APIYCNA supports exclusive breastfeeding as the best option for infants for the first six months of life. Thereafter, we advocate the continued breastfeeding with timely, safe and appropriate complementary feeding. As an organization with stakeholders that include parents, caregivers, healthcare professionals, regulators and policymakers, our mission is to:
- Ensure that the infant and young child nutrition industry adopts standards that are reflective of the requirements of each country where we operate, through collective action
- Support local associations in the region in their engagement with their stakeholders
- Represent the interests of the infant and young child nutrition industry
Our Approach
The challenge of providing optimal infant and young child nutrition is complex and multi-faceted. In the Asia-Pacific region, this includes meeting the challenge that the triple burden of malnutrition poses. Our work is guided by multi-stakeholder cooperation and is based on scientific and medical research.
APIYCNA and our members believe that identifying and implementing optimal nutrition solutions requires multi-stakeholder cooperation. It is APIYCNA’s aim to achieve this by collaborating with our partners and stakeholders to understand the specific nutritional needs in each country where we operate. We are also committed to scientific and medical research and our members stand ready to share their knowledge, expertise, insights and resources with stakeholders to identify nutritional issues and to devise relevant policy frameworks to ensure that as many children as possible get the best nutritional start in life. Through these actions, APIYCNA hopes to create a more conducive environment for the infant and young child nutrition industry and our partners and stakeholders, including a conducive market and environment where we can continue to inform and educate consumers about optimal infant and young child nutrition.