Feeding program for pregnant women

CEBU, Philippines — Aside from feeding the undernourished children, the Municipality of Tuburan is stepping up its usual Dietary Supplementation Program (DSP) by also feeding pregnant women.

Feeding pregnant women aims to prevent their new born from being stunted.

According to the National Nutrition Council-7, the initiative of Tuburan is part of the Early Childhood Care and Development in the First 1000 Days (ECCD F1K).

The DSP is one of the programs included in the Central Visayas Regional Plan of Action for Nutrition 2017-2022. This strategy aims to prevent the occurrence of low birth weight infants during delivery and the onset of stunting among children less than two years old. It also helps improve the health and well-being of the mother.

With the passage of the Kalusugan at Nutrisyon ng Mag-Nanay Act, the municipality hopes to bring nutrition into the spotlight to sustain existing health programs for the improvement of the well-being of both the mother and the child.

Meanwhile, NNC has already approved this year’s Nutrition Month theme-- “Kumain nang wasto at maging aktibo… push natin ‘to!”.

The 2019 Nutrition Month theme is a call to action for Filipinos to practice healthy diet and engage in regular physical activity and reduce sedentary behaviors which go hand in hand.

The annual campaign every July will serve as an avenue to help individuals make informed food choices and be guided on how to integrate physical activity in daily life, jump-start or reinforce nutrition advocacies and policies and mobilize stakeholders to provide an enabling environment for healthy diet and physical activity. — FPL (FREEMAN)