Nutrition Council evaluates implementation of nutrition programs of LGUs

By Hazel F. Gloria

Saturday 9th of June 2012

CEBU CITY, June 8 (PIA) -- The National Nutrition Council in the region (NNC-7) through the Regional Nutrition Evaluation Team (RNET) evaluated some local government units in the implementation of their nutrition programs.

NNC-7’s Nutrition Program Coordinator Dr. Parolita Mission said RNET conducts the annual Monitoring and Evaluation of Local Level Plan Implementation (MELLPI) of nutrition programs and selects the Regional Outstanding Barangay Nutrition Scholar.

MELLPI aims to assess the efficiency of local level plan implementation of the nutrition program and the changes in nutritional status of preschool & school children; determine the extent where nutrition is integrated into the local development plan; and advocate for the continuing support for local nutrition program, Mission added.

The RNET also evaluates the performance of the city’s nominee for Regional Outstanding Barangay Nutrition Scholar.

The Green Banner Award is given to the first ranking municipality, city or province that has achieved outstanding performance in implementing its nutrition programs while the Consistent Regional Outstanding Winner in Nutrition (CROWN) award is given to a municipality, city or province that has been adjudged by the interagency regional nutrition evaluation team as outstanding in the region in the implementation of its nutrition plan for three consecutive years.

Meanwhile, Toledo City is vying for the CROWN award after getting the Green Banner as outstanding city in the region for two consecutive years in 2009 and 2010.

The barangays that were randomly selected and visited during the evaluation included Cabitoonan, Calong-calong, Camp 8, and Ilihan.

RNET validated the nutritional status of the preschool children by reweighing 10 percent of the total preschoolchildren in each barangay visited.

The team also checked and looked into the different projects initiated by the City and made a desk review of all the city’s nutrition records.

The interagency Regional Nutrition Evaluation Team was headed by Dr. Parolita Mission, National Program Coordinator, NNC7, with team members, Evangeline Geraldez, Chief Dietitian, H.W. Miller Hospital and Sanitarium and incoming President of the Philippine Association of Nutrition, Lovelyn Garcia, Program Officer of the Nutrition Center of the Philippines, and Dave Bargamento of NNC-7.(PIA-7/HFG/NNC-7)