) – June 27, 2021 – 12:00am
CEBU, Philippines — The National Nutrition Council in Central Visayas has been exerting efforts to reduce malnutrition which continues to hound young children nationwide.
July 2021 is the 47th Nutrition Month with a theme, “Malnutrisyon Patuloy na Labanan, First 1000 Days Tutokan!”
This annual campaign aims to create greater awareness among the people on the importance of nutrition and calls for continued efforts to address malnutrition in the country which is expected to worsen because of the pandemic and limited resources for nutrition.
The theme also asks all sectors to focus efforts on the first 1000 days of life as the strategic intervention to prevent stunting.
The first 1000 days of life which spans from conception to the child’s second birthday is said to be the “brain’s window of opportunity” to address the needs of stunted children below two years old.
NNC-7 said that this stage of a child’s life develops his/her intellectual capacity, lifelong health and thus, proper nutrition should be given this early.
The implementation of Republic Act 11148, also known as the “Kalusugan at Nutrisyon ng Mag-Nanay Act” which emphasizes the importance of proper nutrition particularly the first 1000 days of life will be given highlight in this year’s Nutrition Month celebration.
The regional celebration will also be anchored on these campaign objectives that include 1) increase understanding of the first 1000 days of life strategy and the PPAN as overall framework (EDUCATE); 2) facilitate collaboration among various stakeholders for scaled up interventions to fight malnutrition (ENCOURAGE); and 3) generate interactions from stakeholders about nutrition (ENGAGE).
It said that the continuous cycle of malnutrition remains to be a problem in the Philippines, citing the World Health Organization (WHO), it said that one in three or 30.3 percent of children 0-59 months old are stunted with stunting highest among 12-23 months at 36.6 percent (2018 ENNS) making the Philippines rank fifth among countries in the East Asia and Pacific Region with highest stunting burden and one of 10 countries with highest number of stunted children in the world.
In Central Visayas, two out of five or 37.7 percent of children aging five years old and below are stunted, according to the 2015 National Nutrition Survey (NNS).
The 2020 Operation Timbang Plus (OPT Plus) results, on the other hand, shows that eight out of 100 (7.8%) children in Central Visayas are stunted. This data shows a 2.5 percent decrease from 10.25 percent in 2019.
The WHO defines stunting as an impaired growth and development experienced by children due to chronic poor nutrition, repeated infection, and inadequate psychosocial stimulation.
It added that stunting in early life impairs growth which leads to several consequences in the future such as poor cognition and educational performance, low adult wages, lost productivity and an increased risk of nutrition-related chronic diseases in adult life.
The regional launching activity of the Nutrition Month aims to bring together virtually mothers, family members, caregivers, health care workers and other nutrition service providers, different NGAs, NGOs, other stakeholders’ and LGUs to share the nutrition month activities, objectives and focus in order to increase their knowledge on the prevention of stunting and importance of the first 1000 days interventions.
One of the highlights of the launching will be showing the recorded messages of the first 1000 days commitment of select local chief executives in Central Visayas to encourage governors, city and municipal mayors to support nutrition as well as implement activities supporting the first 1000 days.
The launching event will also feature a teaser on the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement to the regional stakeholders and identify possible co-convenor for the organization of a SUN Network at the sub-national level.
There will also be an announcement of the nutrition special projects by the different nutrition networks of Central Visayas in each stage of the first 1000 days has an aligned activity prepared. —GMR (FREEMAN)