TACLOBAN CITY, July 13 (PIA) – While Eastern Visayas records 30 percent or 53,000 stunted children aged 0-59 months old, the National Nutrition Council or NNC regional office 8 has committed to address the health issue, encouraging local government units to make concrete and budgeted activities in response to the said problem.
With the same focus, the 2020 July Nutrition Month celebration has the theme, “Batang Pinoy, SANA TALL..Iwas Stunting, SAMA ALL! Iwas ALL din sa Covid-19”. This is to promote awareness and mobilize actions to address child stunting.
“We have to be aware of the negative impact of child stunting and give evidence-based solutions for the benefit of our children,” NNC 8 Regional Nutrition Program Coordinator, Catalino Dotollo, Jr. said during the “Suruswerte ha PIA” radio program with Philippine Information Agency (PIA) Regional Director Olive Tiu.
Dotollo added there is a need to stimulate the communities in the region and emphasize the issue on child stunting as one of the indicators for child malnutrition.
“We have to encourage our local government units and other stakeholders from the regional down to the barangay level, to invest on concrete and budgeted activities with proper monitoring, in order to minimize, if not totally eradicate this health issue. This is among the global health problems that need proper intervention,” the NNC Director added.
It was also learned during the discussions that of the region 8’s total record for child stunting, , 30 percent or 1 out of 3 children below five years old are stunted, a number closer to the national data which is 33 percent based on the Expanded National Nutrition Survey conducted in 2018.
In the region, Dotollo said that the province of Samar has the most number of cases, which maybe attributed to the terrain or geographical location of the area, with Southern Leyte having the least recorded cases.
During the program, the NNC 8 Director likewise stressed the importance of the first 1000 days of children, enjoining public especially parents to give focus on this, as this is a very crucial period for the children’s growth and development.
“The first 1000 days is very important. This is considered a critical window of opportunity because the services intended for them are already in place even before birth,” he said. “It is also during the first three months of these children where their development should be taken cared of and there are services needed especially for brain development,” he added.
In addition, Dotollo also gave recognition to the Barangay Nutrition Scholars or BNSs for their active role in ensuring good health not only for children, but for the general populace, as well.
“These BNSs are our local heroes and health warriors in the field. They do the technical and administrative work just to promote good health and balanced nutrition among our people. From weight and height taking up to home visits and admintration of health services, they can surely be trusted,” he said.
According to Dr. Dotollo, there are at least 4,290 active barangay health workers in the region, with at least one per barangay.
“These health workers are trained on basic health courses. Our office likewise offer them financial support such as 100 pesos per month, P5,000 medical assistance and P20,000 survivorship benefit. This is on top of the honorarium the barangay is giving them of which amount depends on the budget of the barangay itself, or the support provided by the municipality or province,” according to Dotollo.
He also informed that at present, the office is coordinating with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) in institutionalizing the training needs of these health workers.
“TESDA will now be the one to train them so that they could gain national competencies like NC1 or NC2, which they could use if ever they land in other related jobs,” he said.
Meanwhile, PIA through the initiative of Director Olive Tiu, has launched the “Kusina ha PIA” during the “Suruswerte ha PIA” program. This is a series of cooking demonstrations with food cooked by Director Tiu herself, considering that July marks the Nutrition Month and the cooking events are being done to recognize NNC’s efforts in promoting proper nutrition.
“We believe in the NNC’s advocacy for good nutrition. As a humble gesture of recognition, we are launching the “Kusina ha PIA”, where we can help promote nutritious foods with minimal budget,” Director Tiu said.
In his final message, NNC Director Catalino Dotollo assured public that the government is implementing priority programs for the health and nutrition of the people, such as food security and provision of health services. (GTT/PIA-Leyte)
