Nutrition company Herbalife Vietnam on Thursday began implementing the five-year sponsorship deal it signed last year to provide nutrition products and training to Vietnamese athletes.

It is now working with the Viet Nam Sports Administration (VSA) to teach about sports nutrition to athletes who will participate in this year’s Southeast Asian Games and ASEAN Para Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

“The role of sports nutrition is critical in setting athletes up for peak sporting performance,” Dr Dana Ryan, senior manager, sports performance and education, Herbalife, said.

“These training sessions will provide the athletes with a firm grasp of key sports nutrition principles to help them make better nutrition decisions in preparation for this year’s SEA Games and ASEAN Para Games.”

Last April Herbalife had signed the five-year deal with the VSA to become the official nutrition sponsor of Vietnamese sports.

It will also provide apparel to all Vietnamese teams and athletes participating in international events and support and sponsor a ministerial-level study on sports nutrition among Vietnamese athletes.

The goal is to design and develop a sports nutrition handbook for professional athletes based on the study.

The company will also sponsor education programmes for nutrition specialists at national sports training centres and send nutrition experts to speak at sports development conferences organised by the VSA. — VNS