Lubuagan to represent Kalinga in regional nutrition plan search

By Larry T. Lopez

Thursday 21st of June 2012

LUBUAGAN, Kalinga, June 21 (PIA) -- This upland town is the province’s nominee to the Cordillera regional search for the 2011 Best Municipality in the Implementation of Nutrition Action Plan, after besting six other municipalities of Kalinga.

Lubuagan municipality won the nomination based on the evaluation conducted by the provincial nomination team, which showed that Lubuagan has the most complete 2011 Municipal Nutrition Action Plan (MNAP).

Teresa Desay of the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPAG), a member of the evaluation team, reported that Lubuagan was the only town that submitted a complete documentation of its MNAP implementation for the period.

The nutrition program, spearheaded by the National Nutrition Council, pushes to advance the country’s efforts to addressed malnutrition, especially among target beneficiary groups. Under the program, nutrition councils were created in the regional, provincial, municipal, and in the barangay levels.

Nutrition councils are composed of member-agencies, led by the health agency, which formulate nutrition action plans designed to reduce the rate of malnutrition in the countryside.

To monitor the performance of these councils, yearly assessment and evaluation is undertaken from the regional level down to the municipalities.

Last year, the province convened its provincial nutrition congress participated by barangay nutrition scholars that vowed to work for the reduction of Kalinga’s malnutrition rate. (JDP/LL- PIA CAR, Kalinga)