NOURISHMENT and food security are at the center of the new Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition 2023–2028 (PPAN), according to a government nutrition official.
In a video interview with The Manila Times that aired on Saturday, National Nutrition Council (NNC) Executive Director Azucena Dayanghirang said the new PPAN is a whole-of-government approach that also involves civil society stakeholders.
“This PPAN for 2023 to 2028 will not only address the multiple causes of malnutrition, but it will also address food security,” she said, highlighting that the program would “allow individuals and families to access affordable, safe, and adequate nutritious food — through the market and maybe from their own food gardens.”
Among the malnutrition issues that the PPAN would focus on are children with high levels of stunting, overweight children and adults, children with vitamin A deficiency, low birth weight, mothers with maternal anemia, children affected by wasting, and households with diets that meet energy requirements.
“Addressing the complex issue of malnutrition calls for cooperation across sectors at all levels of government and is included in various strategic development plans such as the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2017–2022, the Philippine Health Agenda 2016–2022, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, among others,” the strategic plan indicates.
Further, Dayanghirang said that the NNC is implementing interventions to ensure there is food on the table for every Filipino family.
“Also, there are interventions that ensure food is always on the table, either through direct giving of food, such as family food packs during emergencies, and through the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) and cash transfers,” she said, also referring to the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s food stamp program.
Moreover, she said that the NNC launched a Tutok Kainan supplementation dietary recommendation program in March 2021, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The NNC developed the kind of methodology wherein this is the kind of program that we need … this is a directly observed supplementation program,” she pointed out.
“This is the reason why, despite the Covid-19 pandemic, there was not much increase in the number of stunted children because our LGUs (local government units) were advised through our National Nutrition Cluster,” she added.
One of the objectives of Tutok Kainan was to “contribute to the prevention of stunting by improving the quality and quantity of food and nutrient intakes and utilization of related ECCD F1KD services among nutritionally at-risk pregnant women and children six to 23 months old in the target Tutok Kainan program areas.”
PPAN’s official website indicates that the most recent development for Tutok Kainan was on Feb. 23, 2023, when the NNC launched this program for children in Jolo, Sulu.
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