A delegation headed by Anuradha Narayan, director of the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF)'s water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) team, visited Taicang, Jiangsu province on March 5, local media reported.

They took a look at the "China maternal and infant nutrition health cohort study" project being undertaken in the city.

The UNICEF delegates highly praised Taicang's efforts in advancing the project and hopes that the city will continue to excel in the field of maternal and child health, making their practice replicable in improving the health of women and children in poverty-stricken areas.

The study is a State-level project led by the National Institute of Nutrition and Health of Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Since its launch in 2013, the project has seen 2,500 follow-up visits to mothers and children and collected data about maternal diet, diseases in pregnancy, weight gain during pregnancy, birth outcome and intrauterine micronutrient exposure levels.