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- Category: Region 4b
Mamburao, Occidental Mindoro - Occidental Mindoro, hailed as the “Marine Wonderland of Luzon” is becoming a tourism hub for being blessed with long coastline, lush forests and fertile lands. While the province is endowed with rich natural resources, the province is still challenged with prevailing malnutrition among children. According to 2015 National Nutrition Survey (NNS) of Food and Nutrition Research Institute of Department of Science and Technology (FNRI-DOST), prevalence of undernutrition among children under five (5) years old in Occidental Mindoro remains a public health concern having 40.3% or 4 out of 10 preschoolers are underweight and 53.9% or 5 out of 10 preschoolers are stunted. One of the causes that leads to undernutrition among preschool children is poor health services received by mothers as shown in the 2015 NNS by FNRI-DOST, Further, in Occidental Mindoro, 44.8% or only 4 out of 10 mothers only received their first trimester pre-natal check-up on time while 49.8% or 5 out of 10 mothers have completed their pre-natal check-up. Poor health and nutrition in the early stages of life can have irreversible effects on the physical and mental development of the child, consequences of which are felt way into adulthood.
Seeing the severity of undernutrition in the province, the National Nutrition Council (NNC) included the province of Occidental Mindoro as one of the expansion areas of the Early Childhood Care and Development for the First 1000 Days (ECCD-F1K). The F1K Program involves the delivery of an intervention package that is focused on the first 1000 days of life or the period of pregnancy (270 days) which starts from conception up to the first two years of life (730 days). The F1K Program aims to address health, nutrition, and nutrition-related concerns affecting pregnant women, infants 0-11 months old and young children 12-23 months.
Read more: Occidental Mindoro pushes ECCD-F1K to reduce undernutrition
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- Category: Region 4b
Quezon City - Social Media is defined by Merriam-Webster as “forms of electronic communication (such as websites for social networking and micro-blogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (such as videos)”. With the accessibility and availability of electronic gadgets and internet connection today, most people cannot go on a day without checking the new updates in their social media accounts. It serves as a way of communication, entertainment, research and can tell updates on the current situations around the world. It is one of the most powerful way of disseminating news and information in a fast and hassle-free way. With social media, everything is just one click away! But, does social media really supports in dissemination of nutrition information to the population?
Read more: Social Media in Nutrition Information Dissemination
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- Category: Region 4b
Batangas – On January 12, 2020, Taal Volcano surprised the nearby provinces of Batangas and Cavite with an eruption after 43 years of being calm and silent. The disaster immediately put the nearby areas at risk and giving dilemma to its residents. The PHIVOLCS immediately raised the activity of Taal Volcano to Alert Level 4 due to the release of high amount of gases and lava. Ash Fall covered nearby towns and provinces up to Metro Manila and some parts of Region 3. Ash Fall covered hectares of farmlands, commercial complex and livelihood of the affected population. The affected residences within the 14km radius from the volcano have been forced to evacuate for their own safety. Many municipalities in Batangas and Cavite were lock down.
When a disaster strike and had affected numerous people, emergency response should be initiated. With more than one affected provinces, response should be elevated up to the regional level. In this case the Regional Nutrition Committee (RNC) of CALABARZON immediately convened a meeting to strategize their intervention. Teams will be deployed to the evacuation centers of affected areas and will conduct Nutrition Initial Needs Assessment (NINA) and nutrition services such as Rapid Nutrition Assessment and Vitamin A supplementation to children 0-59months old. The RNC of CALABARZON requested for assistance from each other region for deployment to the evacuation areas. The NNC Central Office, Region 3, National Capital Region, MIMAROPA, Cagayan Valley gave representatives to provide additional manpower and support to the deployed teams.
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- Category: Region 4b
Quezon City – “Batang Pinoy SANA TALL…Iwas stunting, SAMA ALL!” is the nutrition month theme this 2020 which creates awareness and calls for mobilization in addressing stunted growth. The theme is in line with the goal of Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN) 2017-2022 to reduce the level of stunting among children under five (5) years old from 33.4% to 21.4% in 2022.
What is Stunting?
Stunting or “pagkabansot” is the most common form of malnutrition which relates to past state of nutrition. It is the impaired growth and development that children experience because of inadequate nutrition, repeated infections which results to poor nutrient intake, absorption and utilization, and inadequate opportunities to play and learn that lowers their psychosocial stimulation. It is an irreversible condition where a child cannot recover the height lost during his/her developmental stage. Stunted growth is indicated by short height-for-age or more than two standard deviations below the WHO Child Growth Standards. Based on the 2018 Expanded National Nutrition Survey of DOST-FNRI, there is a 30.3% prevalence of stunting among Filipino children under five (5) years old.
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- Category: Region 4b
Since Valentine’s Day is coming, we prepared eight easy tips for you to maintain a healthy and happy heart. We may have different ways of celebrating the love month but please be mindful of your heart and take good care of it as early as now. These shows that you can enjoy while giving your heart the right treatment. Following these tips may help you prevent cardiovascular diseases. Do not let anything break your heart!
Tip #1: Preparing meals at home is more practical than dining at a fancy, expensive restaurant. Valentine’s Day is not about where you ate or how much you spent in celebrating this day. When you prepare your meals at home, it is more cost-effective because you can budget your own money and choose your own ingredients, less time consuming, ensures that ingredients are healthier, fresh, in good quality and safer because you prepared your own food.
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- Category: Region 4b
Manila City – On 7 February 2020, the Regional Social Development Committee (SDC) held its first meeting in 2020 at City Garden Suites Hotel in Ermita, Manila. One of the main businesses of the meeting was to review of the budget proposal of regional line agencies (RLAs) for FY 2021. The meeting was attended by Honorable Governor and Regional Development Committee (RDC) Chair Jose Riano of Romblon and Honorable Governor Humerlito Dolor of Oriental Mindoro and Regional Directors and representatives of Regional Line Agencies (RLAs), Private Sector Representatives, Provincial Planning and Development Officers (PPDOs) and executive staff of Representatives Hon. Gil Acosta Jr. of 3rd District of Palawan, Hon. Franz Josef George Alvarez of 1st District of Palawan and Hon. Paulino Salvador Leachon of 1st District of Oriental Mindoro.
NPC Ma. Eileen Blanco, Officer-in-Charge of NNC MIMAROPA presented the FY 2021 Budget Proposal of NNC MIMAROPA to the SDC. For Tier 1, or the on-going programs, activities and projects (PAPs) of the agency, a total of 18 PAPs were proposed amounting to Php 3,771,500.00. This includes mobilization of local government units (LGUs) monitoring and evaluation of nutrition programs, coordination meetings of regional policy-making and coordinating bodies, local media promotion, recognition of local nutrition workers and LGUs, and assistance to regional associations. For Tier 2, or the new and expanded PAPs, a total of 4 PAPs were proposed amounting to Php 33,200,600.00. This includes dietary supplementation program for nutritionally-at-risk pregnant and lactating women, Early Childhood Care and Development in the First 1000 Days of Life (ECCD-F1K) Regional Technical Working Group Meetings, ECCD-F1K Regional Technical Assistance and Monitoring and Evaluation activities, and budget for the office transfer of NNC MIMAROPA to Calapan City.
The Php 36,972,100.00 budget proposal of NNC MIMAROPA for FY 2021 was approved by the SDC for endorsement to the RDC. The budget proposal will be subject for approval during the 1st Full Council Meeting of RDC on 6 March 2020 at Heritage Hotel in Pasay City. – EMArcinue
