DOH leads Nutrition Month fest

As the Philippines celebrates the forty eighth Nutrition Month, the Department of Health (DOH), and its partner-entities together with the UNICEF Philippines on Friday collectively reaffirmed their “staunch collaboration and steadfast dedication in the direction of strengthened diet interventions within the new regular.”

Attuned with this yr’s Nutrition Month theme, “New regular na nutrisyon, sama-samang gawan ng solusyon,” which highlights the significance of lively participation amongst key stakeholders from the federal government, non-public sectors, and communities to scale up diet interventions, the organizers underscore the urgency of making certain precedence actions to deal with malnutrition amongst Filipinos, particularly youngsters.

The different taking part businesses had been the National Nutrition Council (NNC) and the Embassy of the Republic of Korea within the Philippines by Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).

Substandard diets have been cited as a significant contributor to the triple burden of malnutrition.

According to the 2018 Expanded National Nutrition Survey (ENNS), 30.3 p.c (about 3.9 million) of kids underneath 5 years within the Philippines had been stunted or too small for his or her age. There can be in growing variety of obese and overweight youngsters at 10.4% and 11.6% respectively. Overweight and weight problems are a public well being concern as they’ve the potential to negate most of the well being advantages which have contributed to elevated life expectancy.

The proportion of infants and younger youngsters receiving a diversified eating regimen within the nation has been lowering, as proven within the collection of National Nutrition Surveys since 2003, and this example is feared to have worsened throughout the pandemic.

“The Department (of Health) requires heightened interventions to enhance the meals system that may present elevated entry to various meals which might be protected and nutritious, and consequently enhance the youngsters’s dietary standing.

Moreover, as a part of the division’s purpose of offering an all-encompassing healthcare service, it will be significant that weaddress and resolve these challenges in order that we be sure that all youngsters are given the sufficient and correct diet that they deserve,” stated Undersecretary Maria Rosario Verge ire, DOH Officer-in-Charge.

The NNC leads the cost to deal with malnutrition within the Philippines.

With the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN) for 2023-2028 at the moment underneath growth, its methods will proceed to prioritize the primary 1000 days of life (from conception as much as two years of life) and the mobilization of native authorities models (LGUs). LGUs are anticipated to formulate three-year native diet motion plans which might be aligned with the methods encroached inside PPAN.

“When we enhance diet, we additionally construct folks’s resilience in opposition to illness, stresses, and shocks. This yr’s Nutrition Month emphasizes that each one of us must work collectively to have higher diet within the new regular,” stated Assistant Secretary Azucena Dayanghirang, NNC govt director.

The Korean authorities, by KOICA, has been a supportive donor and associate within the implementation of the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition. Through the partnership between KOICA and UNICEF, milestones significantly within the areas of governance and coverage, well being, and diet service supply, and social and habits change communication have been achieved amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The Korean authorities, by KOICA, unites with the Philippine authorities and UNICEF Philippines in the direction of enhancing and scaling up diet within the new regular. KOICA will constantly present help to the Philippine well being sector,” stated KOICA Country Director KIM Eunsub.

While the pandemic has made a big impact on diet, it has additionally paved the way in which for improvements in diet service supply, in addition to strengthened multi-sectoral collaboration and elevated consciousness.

UNICEF Philippines works on the nationwide and sub-national ranges to make sure that gaps within the entry to and supply of well being, diet, and WASH providers are addressed by evidence-based interventions.

“Despite the challenges of the pandemic, we had been capable of obtain key milestones by significant partnerships. As we strengthen localized diet insurance policies and budgets, assuring diet providers in hard-to-reach areas, and constructing capability of frontline diet and healthcare suppliers, we should be sure that these achievements outcome within the sustained discount of stunting and different types of malnutrition within the Philippines,” stated Behzad Noubary, UNICEF Philippines Deputy Representative.