According to the results of the 2015 National Nutrition Survey Updating of Nutritional Status of Filipino Children and Other Population Groups conducted by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (FNRI-DOST), MiMaRoPa ranked 1^st among all the regions with the highest prevalence of underweight children at 31.8%.  In addition, underweight prevalence increased from 27.6% in 2013 to 31.8% in 2015, while stunting prevalence increased from 35.8% in 2013 to 40.9% in 2015.  On the other hand, wasting prevalence is consistent at 9.7% in 2013 and 2015. 

Malnutrition is caused by multiple factors directly and indirectly affecting an individual such as the basic causes (social, economic, and political factors), underlying causes (employment, dwelling, assets, and income), and immediate causes (disease and inadequate food intake). The NNC acknowledges the fact that for nutrition interventions to become sustainable, it should not only be directed towards the immediate causes directly affecting the individual (such as direct and supplementary feedings) but also should be a multi-sectoral approach, targeting the basic, underlying, and immediate causes of malnutrition.

It is in this premise that the MiMaRoPa Regional Nutrition Committee (RNC) was formed in 1981 and continues to collaborate through the years to harmonize the efforts of the different regional line agencies to address the persistent and emerging nutritional problems in the region. To continuously improve the approaches to the different nutritional problems especially among preschool children, the RNC formed a Core Group during the 1^st RNC Meeting, Series 2017 last April 7, 2017 at La Breza Hotel, Quezon City. The RNC Core Group is led by the Department of Health (DOH) with NNC as the secretariat and is composed of regional line agencies conducting feeding programs and other nutrition-related interventions in the region such as the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Education (DepEd), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), and National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP). For the purpose of the collaboration and convergence, FNRI-DOST was also included as a core group member to further enhance the nutrition interventions being implemented in the region.

The first RNC Core Group Meeting was held last September 5, 2017 at La Breza Hotel, Quezon City. Dr. Eduardo C. Janairo, Regional Director of the Department of Health (DOH) – MiMaRoPa and Chair of the RNC presided the meeting which was attended by ten (10) out of the 12 core group members.

OIC Carina Z. Santiago presented the updated Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN) 2017-2022 which encompasses nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive interventions. The updated PPAN also aims to intensify the mobilization of local government units in 36 focus provinces in the country including Occidental Mindoro, Palawan, and Romblon in MiMaRoPa Region. Afterwards, Dir. Janairo discussed DOH’s Seven Pillars of Nutrition which includes seven focus areas for nutrition programs such as Oral Health, Maternal and Family Nutrition, Breastfeeding, Raw and Cooked Plant-based Food/Chef, Organic Farming and Vegetable Gardening, Direct Feeding, and Malward and Other Diseases. This may help complement the PPAN programs, projects, and activities which will be adapted by the different local government units (LGUs).

The PPAN 2017-2022 and the Seven Pillars of Nutrition has been the basis for further discussions and collaboration points for the different agencies. Dir. Janairo laid out his and the RNC’s expectations from each core group member and afterwards, each agency’s representative presented their respective agency’s efforts to address the nutritional problems in the region. The following are the expectations and efforts of the different RNC core group members: 

The preliminary RNC Core Group Meeting is an initial step towards better convergence among agency key players in nutrition program implementation in the region. Collaboration and communication among agencies is a vital step towards achieving a malnourished-free MiMaRoPa.