NNC briefs nutrition planners on Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition

By Maria Aprilla W. Cruz

Monday 14th of May 2012

BAGUIO CITY, May 14 (PIA) -- The National Nutrition Council (NNC) met with the provincial and regional nutrition stakeholders to solicit their continuous support to the implementation of the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN), the country’s response to malnutrition.

Danilo Villa B. Agcopra, Nutrition Officer IV, Nutrition Policy and Planning Division of NNC Central Office, informed that the PPAN takes off from the nutrition situation as determined by the 2008 national nutrition survey and the need to catch up with many of the targets, and at the same time sustain and protect gains already achieved.

“The challenge is that 69 percent of the Filipino households are hungry, even if the percentage of hungry families in 2008 is lower than the level reported in 1990 it is higher than the 57 percent recorded in 2003, and away from the target for 2008 if we are to reach the Millenium Development Goal of 37.1 percent in 2015,” he said.

Other challenges are child undernutrition; maternal under nutrition, which is posing risk to pregnant and lactating women; iron, iodine, and vitamin A deficiency which can be locally addressed by constant monitoring on the use of iodized salt in households and food establishment and the vitamin A supplementation to children under the Patak Vitamin A program; obesity and overweight, which is increasing among children under-five years old, which, while still at single digit, may just increase further if we do not do anything about this, Agcopra stressed.

He also explained that strategies and priorities for action include first and foremost supporting pregnant and lactating mothers to enable them to adopt optimum Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) practices.

“Priorities for action include capacity building on counselling and lactation management; deployment of peer counselors or mothers who have been successful in applying appropriate IYCF practices assisting other mothers, the implementation of RA 10028 that calls for lactation stations in the workplace and other public places, among others, enforcement of the Milk Code that regulates the marketing of breast milk substitutes, and the establishment of human milk banks as a source of milk for challenging situations like in emergencies or in the first days when for some reason or another breast milk does not flow as fast,” he said.

For targets related to pregnant women, he said that there is a need to strengthen the nutrition component of ante-natal care services specifically by ensuring the pregnant woman’s access to ade1quate iron supplementation, counseling on care of the pregnant woman not only for the growing fetus but also for the mother herself, and possibly more food supplementation.

"Among school-aged children, we need to strengthen nutrition education in schools to enable children to make nutritionally-wise decisions today and when they become parents themselves; improve water and sanitation facilities in schools, and promote personal hygiene," he added

He also emphasized the need to build the capacities of teachers and school health personnel in delivering nutrition and related services as well as upgrade facilities and tools especially by ensuring the availability of appropriate weighing scales.

"To address deficiencies in micronutrients, we will continue with micronutrient supplementation, food fortification, and the promotion of home-based production and consumption of food rich in vitamin A and iron," Agcopra added. (JDP/MC-PIA CAR)