BY KATRINA FAYE SANCHEZ/ADDU INTERN
THE NATIONAL Nutrition Council (NNC) XI marked the 50th Nutrition Month by mobilizing stakeholders and the people to support the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN) 2023 – 2028 to implement nutrition programs in the country.
Retsebeth M. Laquihon, NNC XI nutrition program coordinator OIC, disclosed the PPAN’s three key messages in preventing, managing, and addressing under-nutrition, over-nutrition, and micronutrient deficiencies.
“Ang first natin na key message is ‘Dahil bawat buhay ay mahalaga, wastong nutrisyon kailangan para maging malusog at produktibo,’ (Our first key message is ‘Because every life is important, proper nutrition is necessary to be healthy and productive’)” she said during the Kapihan sa Dabaw held at SM City Davao on July 8.
PPAN aims to provide programs and specific- and nutrition-sensitive interventions in addressing immediate underlying and Basic causes of malnutrition in children, pregnant women, and lactating mothers.
“In fact, ‘yung form of under-nutrition natin on stunting, ‘pag hindi natin ito na-prevent, it will also affect productivity in adult years noh, nakaka-apekto din ito sa mental development ng bata, (In fact, stunting, a form of under-nutrition, if not prevented, it will also affect productivity in adult years, it also affects the mental development of a child)” Laquihon stated.
For its second key message, PPAN seeks to implement food security in reducing malnutrition and promoting healthy diets.
“Dito po papasok ‘yung role ng ating agriculture sector kasi ‘yung malnutrition could be a result of prolonged hunger incidents (This is where the role of our agriculture sector comes in because malnutrition could be a result of prolonged hunger incidents),” she said.
She added stakeholders and local government units are also contributors to realizing food supply accessibility.
Lastly, PPAN’s third key message is to combat the triple burden of malnutrition that affects Filipinos across all life stages.
It seeks to eradicate the three classifications of under-nutrition, prevent diseases resulting from over-nutrition, and alleviate micronutrient deficiency problems, such as hidden hunger.
“Napakalaki ng role ng ating stakeholders, particularly sa media sector or any other platform, where we could strengthen ’yung ating information dissemination campaign,” she said.
once again noted the significant role of stakeholders, especially the media sector, in strengthening information dissemination of their campaigns, noting that limited knowledge about the Right preparation and child-caring practices affects the capacity of households to procure food sources.
NNC XI encourages the people to show their support for and take an interest in their efforts towards achieving PPAN’s programs to monitor vulnerable groups and address malnutrition.
