Iranian Deputy Minister of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare Yaqoub Andayesh said credit for the free food basket has been allocated to more than 262,000 children aged 5 to 59 months suffering from malnutrition, enabling their families to purchase food packages free of charge through the electronic voucher system starting August 3.
He said the measure was implemented under the directive of President Masoud Pezeshkian and at the insistence of the Minister of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare as part of the government's efforts to eradicate poverty.
He described the Child Food Security Program as one of the ministry's key initiatives, stressing that the period from conception until the age of five is a "golden opportunity" for child development, during which more than 90 percent of the brain is formed.
Andayesh explained that eligible children are identified through routine monitoring of anthropometric indicators—including weight and height measurements compared with standard growth charts—at health centers and rural health houses to detect malnutrition, including wasting, underweight, and stunting.