BAGUIO CITY– The National Nutrition Council(NNC) calls on Barangay Nutrition Scholars to support the full implementation of the Philippine Plan of Action on Nutrition (PPAN) 2017 – 2022 for a better health and nutrition status for the Filipino people and progress to the country.
NNC Executive Director Maria Bernadita Flores, in her message during the 4th National Conference of Barangay Nutrition Scholars (BNS) at the CAP – John Hay Trade and Cultural Center last week, cited the important role that BNS play as government partners in bringing nutrition programs and advocacies down to the grassroots level.
Through the help of BNS, nutrition programs and advocacies can reach even those in geographically isolated and displaced areas where malnutrition prevalence remains high, Flores said.
‘Together, let us work to lower the level of malnutrition through the implementation of the PPAN for a better future for the Filipino people and the country’, she added.
The PPAN 2017 – 2022, a call to urgent action for Filipinos to address the concerns on malnutrition, is in line with the 10 – point economic agenda of the Duterte Administration and part of the “All For Health, Towards Health For All” battlecry of the Department of Health.
The Plan includes 12 programs and 46 projects that will serve as framework for actions that the NNC and its member- agencies and development partners should undertake.
On the country’s nutrition – related concerns, Flores affirmed that lowering the prevalence of wasting or thinness (having lower weight than the normal children of same height and sex), stunting (having height lower than normal children of same age and sex)) and overweight or obesity especially among children remains a challenge.
Around 30 percent of the population are overweight or obese, wasting prevalence remains around 7.1% and one of every three 3 Filipino children is stunted or under height, Flores stressed.
Around 900 participants from the National Capital Region and South Luzon Cluster of the federation of the BNS attended the conference with the theme, “PPAN Para sa Bayan, Nutrisyon at Serbisyo” (PPAN for the Country, Nutrition and Service).
The conference focused on the BNS thorough orientation of the PPAN 2017 – 2022 and for the crafting of individual plans of action of the participants geared towards the attainment of the PPAN’s goals.**By Carlito Dar
