Prov’l nutrition council steps up campaign vs malnutrition

SAN JOSE, Antique — The Provincial Nutrition Council (PNC) is doubling up its efforts to eliminate malnutrition in the province.
“We need to intensify our efforts to further reduce cases of malnourished children and eventually reach our target that no Antiqueño children will weigh below normal,” said an action officer of the council, Nida Pallon.
According to the PNC, the prevalence rate of malnutrition in the province is on a decreasing trend: From 14.28 percent (10, 940) in 2009 to 12.75 percent (10, 239) in 2010.
Antique is still on top of other provinces in Region 6 with the high prevalence rate of malnutrition.
With this, the Provincial Health Office (PHO) is conducting massive nutrition promotion program to make communities and families understand their vital role in attaining a health community, Pallon said.
Such program is being done in coordination with the municipal and barangay officials, nutrition scholars and health workers.
Among the PHO’s approaches is enhancing infant and young child feeding, which covers exclusive breastfeeding of infant zero–six months and complementary feeding for six months onwards.
Pallon said concerned agencies on the area of food security and sustainability are doing coordinated efforts on food production and farm productivity, like vegetable gardening and high-value crop production.
The implementation of the Food-for-School Program is also ongoing in coordination with the National Food Authority, Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Department of Education.
On the other hand, PHO called on local officials to make nutrition program a top priority in their agenda.
Likewise, it enjoined top five municipalities in the province with high incidence of malnutrition to intensify its campaign by mobilizing support of various sectors.
These are the towns of Tibiao, Caluya, Barbaza, Sibalom and Valderrama. (JCM/PSM/PIA/PN)