The National Nutrition Council (NNC), whose mission is to orchestrate the efforts of the government, the private sector, international organizations and other stakeholders at all levels in addressing hunger and malnutrition of the Filipinos, has put together the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN) 2017-2022, with the goals of contributing to the improvement of the quality of human resource in the country and reducing child and maternal mortality.

It consists of 12 programs and 46 projects serving as a framework for actions that agencies under NNC, as well as other national government agencies, local government units, nongovernmental organizations, academic institutions and development partners, can undertake.

“Of these 12 programs,” the NNC says in an executive summary of the plan, “8 are nutrition-specific, one is nutrition-sensitive and three are enabling support programs.”

Among the nutrition problems that need to be addressed are the high levels of stunting and wasting among children who are under five years of age. According to NNC data included in the executive summary, 33.4% of Filipino children under the age of five are stunted and 7.1% are wasted. Though stunting is relatively low among infants (0-11 months old), it is significantly higher among one-year-olds.

By 2022, it is hoped that the prevalence of stunted children under five in the country will be reduced to 21.4% and the prevalence of wasted children under five to less than 5%, and of children between the ages of six and 10 to less than 5% as well.

Other health problems that the plan seeks to address include deficiencies in Vitamin A, iron and iodine; hunger and food security; obesity; maternal nutrition; poor infant and young child feeding; and the challenge of exclusive breast-feeding in the first six months of life.

The plan has several strategic thrusts. The first is focus on the first 1,000 days of life. “This is the period during which key health, nutrition, early education and related services should be delivered to ensure the optimum physical and mental development of the child,” NNC says. “This is also the period during which poor nutrition can have irreversible effects on the physical and mental development of the child, consequences of which are felt way into adulthood.”

Another is the complementation of nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive programs. This particular thrust recognizes the fact the malnutrition has causes that are immediate, underlying and basic, and so it should be addressed to achieve targeted nutritional outcomes. This calls for the implementation and delivery of nutrition-specific interventions. NNC says these interventions address the immediate determinants of fetal and child nutrition and development.

There is also the intensified mobilization of local government units (LGUs). “To ensure that PPAN 2017-2022 delivers the planned outcomes, 38 areas with greater magnitude of stunting and wasting will be prioritized for mobilization of government units,” NNC says. This mobilization is meant to make low-intensity nutrition programs into those that will deliver targeted outcomes. It will involve capacity-building and mentoring of LGUs on nutrition management so that they will be able to plan, implement, coordinate, monitor and evaluate effective nutrition programs.

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