Nutrition council pushes for early childhood care

CEBU, Philippines — The National Nutrition Council (NNC)-7 has encouraged local government units and other nutrition stakeholders to adopt the Early Childhood Care and Development-First 1,000 days program to help reduce stunting in Central Visayas.

NNC-7, in a statement, said that the First 1,000 Days (F1K) of the child’s life is considered the “golden window of opportunity” for a comprehensive package of nutrition and related interventions to achieve significant changes in reduction in child stunting, underweight and wasting, at the same time contribute to complete child development.

In line with this, the Municipal Nutrition Committee of Borbon, Cebu, with the assistance of Helen Keller, is now drafting a municipal resolution to institutionalize the establishment of F1K in all its 19 barangays.

Borbon, who recently launched the ECCD F1K Program, is one of the 10 pilot municipalities of HKI in Cebu province.

The launching of the program was attended by almost 1,000 participants composed of mothers, household heads, students, barangay nutrition scholars and barangay health workers, and other nutrition advocates.

Municipal Mayor Noel T. Dotillos, together with monitoring and evaluation officer of HKI Philippines Pamela Jane Pacheco and the 19 barangay captains of the municipality, were present during the launching activity.

ECCD-F1K is a program that aims to ensure the total development of the child through the delivery of key health, nutrition, early education, and social services in the continuum of care from pregnancy to the first two years of life. (FREEMAN)