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Tuesday, July 16, 2013

NNC-9 taps media support for “Promote Good Nutrition” program

Franklin P. Gumapon
PAGADIAN CITY – Recognizing the vital role played by the press in information dissemination, the National Nutrition Council (NNC)-9 has recently conducted a planning workshop for media practitioners in the region for the promotion of good nutrition.

Eight media men from the cities of Dipolog, Pagadian and Zamboanga and Ipil town of Zamboanga Sibugay participated in the said workshop held at Alindahaw Lakeview Resort in Lakewood, Zamboanga del Sur last July 11-12.

NNC-9 headed by Nutrition Program Coordinator Maria del Pilar Pamela R. Tarroza briefed the participants on the nutrition problems in Zamboanga Peninsula, the 2013 nutritional guidelines for Filipinos and the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN), among others.

Tarroza disclosed that in Zamboanga Peninsula, Zamboanga del Norte has the highest percentage of malnutrition incidence - registering 25.5 percent of underweight children aged 0 to 6 years old - followed by Zamboanga Sibugay with 24.9 percent and Zamboanga del Sur with 23.9 percent.

The NNC-9 chief attributed the high malnutrition incidence to poverty as many households in the region could hardly eat three square meals a day.

Based on the 2003 Family and Income Expenditure Survey (FIES), the priority one food-poorest provinces in the country are Zamboanga del Norte, Masbate, Maguindanao, Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Norte, Mountain Province, Lanao del Norte, Camarines Norte, Sarangani and Zamboanga Sibugay. All cities and municipalities in National Capital Region (NCR) also belong to priority one areas.

NNC-9 has teamed up with media practitioners to help promote good nutrition starting from exclusive breastfeeding for infants 0 to 6 months old to eating healthy and nutritious foods like green leafy and yellow vegetables as well as fresh fruits.

In a related development, the entire country is now celebrating the 39th nutrition month with the theme, “Gutom at Malnutrisyon sama-sama nating wakasan (Let’s end hunger and malnutrition together).” (PIA9)