Nutrition officers reminded of their roles during crisis

CEBU, Philippines —  National Nutrition Council-7 regional program coordinator Dr. Parolita Mission has directed all local nutrition clusters in Central Visayas to ensure that the nutritional status of vulnerable groups will not worsen amid the health crisis.

 Mission reminded all nutrition action officers, district, city, and municipal officers of their roles in COVID-19 response and recovery as well as their roles in emergencies such as the rapid nutrition assessment and monitoring, food and nutrition security, infant and young child feeding in emergencies, micronutrient supplementation and integrated management of acute malnutrition.

Mission said that "food and nutrition insecurity has become indirect effects of the COVID-19 pandemic" due to the community quarantine. 

Meanwhile, all nutrition program coordinators in the region are entering a new generation of nutrition advocacy by planning on a special project to raise awareness of the nutrition interventions in response to COVID-19.

The Nutrition Program Coordinators’ Association of Region 7, (NPCAR 7) Inc. decided to go with the times and draw attention to the importance of nutrition in response to and in preparation of the “new normal” brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic using the most popular way of information dissemination these days---video logs.

Lead by a team of young and upcoming leaders in the nutrition organization, the activity aims to inspire other nutrition workers by stressing the importance of the role of program coordinators in ensuring the community’s nutrition and safety in these trying times.

On the other hand, NNC-7 will be holding its annual Nutrition Month Sales Conference starting today. It is aimed to gather partners, both old and new, to help promote this year’s Nutrition Month themed “Batang Pinoy SANA TALL… Iwas Stunting, SAMA ALL!”

The online sales conference will be discussing topics on how stunting affects the growth and development of individuals and the community, as well as touching on the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic which is still affecting the region.

The data in Central Visayas shows that 2 out of 5 children below five years old are stunted or chronically malnourished and with the impending problems that may arise in both food and nutrition security due to the pandemic, the activity hopes to find new partners or re-establish collaborators not only for nutrition month and but also for rehab and recovery interventions from the direct and indirect effects of COVID-19.

The conference will feature a talk on the importance of the first 1,000 days by a well-known pediatrician and breastfeeding advocate, Dr. Marini T. Esguerra and a presentation on food and nutrition security and its implication to stunting by Mr. Melquiades B. Ibarra, information officer of the Department of Agriculture-7.

The sales conference shall also be presenting the region’s plans for Nutrition Month’s celebration in July.  FPL (FREEMAN)