Palo, Leyte -In order to promote and improve the nutritional and health status among government workers and its clients, the Regional Technical Working Group on Nutrition endorses to the Regional Nutrition Committee the policy statement on nutrition program for government workers of the National Nutrition Council during its Third Quarter Meeting held on 20 September at Seafood and Ribs Warehouse, Palo, Leyte.
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Dr. Catalino P. Dotollo, the NNC VIII Regional Nutrition Program Coordinator shared that obesity among adults is increasing. National Nutrition Survey (NNS) 2015 revealed of 31.10 prevalence of obesity among 20 years old and above. Likewise, DOST-FNRI (2016) prevalence of selected health and nutrition conditions among adults, by occupation showed that officials (37%) and professionals (32.1%) and clerks (29.6%) are among the top occupation with high prevalence of obesity. On the other hand, the top occupation with low physical activity include: clerks (56.8%), professionals (55.6%), special occupation (52.6%) and officials (50.1%). Further, the survey also revealed that the mentioned occupations are also listed having high rates of hypertension, high fasting blood glucose and high cholesterol levels.
To contribute to efficient bureaucracy, NNC released policy statement for the improvement of nutritional and health status of state workers by reducing or no further increase in obesity and non-communicable diseases through NNC GB Resolution No. 5, series of 2018. Specifically, the policy aimed to build on existing wellness and healthy lifestyle programs, to set up a mechanism for assessing and monitoring nutritional status of government workers, to design guidelines to offer opportunities for government workers to be informed about proper nutrition, to offer healthy food environment in the workplace, to promote and sustain physical activity and reduce sedentary work while in the workplace and to give basis for other nutrition services for government workers. Components used to effectively carry out the program will include: (1) nutrition promotion, (2) healthy food and work environment, (3) behavior modification strategies, and (4) food systems interventions.
