Pagadian hosted regional nutrition forum for the adoption, localization of PPAN 2011-2016

By Claro A. Lanipa

PAGADIAN CITY, Oct 9 (PIA) – A Regional Nutrition Forum for the Adoption and Localization of the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN) 2011-2016 was conducted on Friday, October 5, 2012 at Hotel Guillermo, this city.

Maria del Pilar Pamela Tarroza, Nutrition Program Coordinator of the National Nutrition Council in Region 9 said, PPAN 2011-2016 is the country’s national framework plan on nutrition, with the primary  goal of addressing the problem of under nutrition or malnutrition in the country.

The said forum was attended by some 150 participants composed of local chief executives, Sangguniang Bayan chairperson on Committee on Health, Liga ng mga Barangay presidents, city/municipal nutrition action officers, non-government organizations and people’s organization in the region.

Meanwhile, Carolina Bautista-Batallones, Deputy Executive Director, National Nutrition Council in her keynote message said, this forum is a call to action and commitment to address malnutrition here in the Zamboanga Peninsula region.

Batallones said malnutrition has serious implication to individual and national development. Malnutrition in children results to lower intelligence and reduced physical capacity.

“If not cut, this malnutrition is passed on to the succeeding generations and ultimately reducing the nation’s overall productivity, stunting economic growth and exacerbating poverty,” she said.

In her power point presentation, Batallones showed that the three provinces of the Zamboanga Peninsula Region have very high and high rate of underweight among pre-school children. Zamboanga Sibugay with a rate of 41%, Zamboanga del Norte with 35.5% and Zanboanga del Sur with 28.6%. (JPA/CAL/PIA9)