CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (PIA) — The National Nutrition Council (NNC)-10 and the City Government of El Salvador, Misamis Oriental, held a joint regional and city launch of the 50th Nutrition Month celebration at the City Hall Grounds, El Salvador City, on July 1, citing that “every life is important.”
The theme for this year’s celebration is “Sa PPAN: Sama-sama sa Nutrisyong Sapat Para sa Lahat,” which aims to raise awareness of the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition PPAN 2023-2028.
Maria Cynthia B. Vengco, OIC Nutrition Program Coordinator of NNC-10, explained that because every life is important, everyone needs to be well nourished to live a healthy and productive life. “The PPAN guides actions to ensure nutrition security for all,” she said.
Further, “through PPAN, we can reduce stunting and obesity,” she added. Meanwhile, the PPAN’s triple strategy of healthier diets, improved nutrition practices, and access to nutrition and related services can overcome the triple burden of undernutrition, overnutrition, and micronutrient deficiencies.
According to Vengco, region 10 has a decreasing trend for stunting, wasting, underweight, and even overweight and obesity. She urged parents to find ways to provide healthy food for their children, such as backyard gardening and seeking assistance from their barangay nutrition workers.
“’Yung parents is dapat masipag, hindi nya hahayaan na siya maghirap lang, dapat may effort na makaabot or makalabas doon. Kung mag-tap siya, magtanong sa ating barangay nutrition iskolar, or health workers even sa barangay captain or barangay council, pwede siya mag seek ng assistance,” she said.
(The parents must work hard; they will not let him just suffer; he must make an effort to reach or get out of there. If he taps, ask our barangay nutrition scholars, health workers, and even the barangay captain or barangay council, and he can seek assistance.)
Meanwhile, Mayor Edgar S. Lignes of El Salvador City shared his commitment to nutrition program implementation as part of good local governance. “I have put emphasis on the provision of basic social services from womb to tomb, which means across and throughout all ages,” he said.
Furthermore, the mayor shared his short- and long-term plans for addressing the malnutrition problem at hand.
“We invested in people, competent and compassionate health and nutrition workers, because I believe that we need the most skilled and empathetic care providers to capacitate the community and give nutritional services to the children, and I have recently been promoted to the plantilla position with three of our nutrition workers,” he said.
Lignes has also hired a nutritionist dietician from the NNC-10, meanwhile, he allocated a new building to house the nutrition office. El Salvador’s local government implements the program not only through its nutrition office, but also through total collaboration with all stakeholders.
“Our medium-term city nutrition action plan is incorporated in our local investment plan for health, disaster risk reduction and management plan, comprehensive development plan, and comprehensive land use plan; we want our plan to be unified and workable,” he said.
Further, it was commended by National Economic Development Authority Assistant Regional Director Leonila Cajarte that nutrition is included in the local investment plan and comprehensive development plan in the city to ensure that budget is allocated for the program.
The 50th Nutrition Month launching was held through the unveiling of the 2024 Nutrition Month tarpaulin, motorcade, and program, with participation from local officials of El Salvador City, the City Nutrition Committee, barangay nutrition committee members, the City Health Office, the Regional Nutrition Committee, the SUN Network, and Media Advocates for Nutrition in Government Region 10 (MANGO Diez) members. (JMOR/PIA-10)
