2nd Year CROWN Maintenance Award
Mabalacat City
In Mabalacat, there is perseverance and consistency in addressing malnutrition
Pampanga is in the heart of Central Luzon, bounded on the north by Tarlac and Nueva Ecija, on the east by Bulacan, southwest by Bataan and west by Zambales. Its terrain is relatively flat with only one distinct, but legendary mountain, Mount Arayat. Mabalacat became a first-class municipality in 1996 and rose to cityhood in 2012. It has a land area of more than 2,000 square kilometers, divided into four congressional districts, with19 municipalities, 3 cities, and 538 barangays. Its people are peace-loving and God-fearing as well as hardworking and industrious. They speak the Kapampangan dialect, which is very rich in vocabulary and culture.
Mabalacat City houses the Clark International Airport, Dau Transport Terminal, and major road networks such as North Luzon Expressway, Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway, and MacArthur Highway that traverses the city. These infrastructures put the city at the helm of rapid and inevitable economic development and is hoped to give its people a leverage to improve on their lives and livelihood.
The actual challenge lies in making sure that the benefits in the economy will trickle down to each and every resident of the city. This is the goal of the Mabalacat City Nutrition Committee led by Mayor Crisostomo C. Garbo: making certain that the people of Mabalacat, especially the poorest and most vulnerable, will get the advantages from the forthcoming development by ensuring that malnutrition will be diminished significantly, if not eradicated.
In 2019, the City Nutrition and Health Offices conducted Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) Training and training on Breastfeeding Peer Counselling and Lactation Massage among Barangay Health Workers (BHWs), and Barangay Nutrition Scholars (BNSs). This consecutively followed a series of IYCF counselling, breastmilk donation drives, and one-on-one lactation massages, by trained Breastfeeding Counselor in every barangay to effectively support breastfeeding mothers in their breastfeeding journey. In celebration of the nutrition month in July, a new Breastfeeding Station was established and certified, catering to all breastfeeding employees, clients, and guests of Mabalacat City. In addition, Milk Code posters were displayed in all barangays, and no violations have been recorded since.
Philippine Integrated Management of Severe Acute Malnutrition (PIMAM) trainings are also conducted by the City Nutrition Office and the City Health Office to capacitate health and nutrition workers to actively identify, refer, manage, and treat children who have Moderate and Severe Acute Malnutrition in the City. Specifically, 120 BNSs, and 50 rural health physicians, public health nurses, rural health midwives, were trained for this program. Severe and moderate acute malnourished children were then provided with dietary and micronutrient supplementation and were regularly monitored through daily visits by BNSs.
For the Dietary Supplementation Program, an orientation was conducted among City Nutrition Office Staff before its implementation in selected barangays. A total of 280 nutritionally-at-risk pregnant and lactating women in seven barangays, and 106 children, aged 24-59 months, from four barangays benefitted in this program. The city believes that children should be able to reach their maximum potential in school. Thus, dietary supplementation was also extended among the children in 60 Child Development Centers, and Kinder to Grade VI wasted children in 40 public elementary schools.
For the Micronutrient Supplementation Program: (1) 6-59-months old children were provided with micronutrient powder and vitamin A(2) Adolescents and women of reproductive age in schools and communities were given iron folic acid weekly. (3)Pregnant women were regularly provided with folic acid, and iodized oil capsules as needed, along with the promotion of the importance of the First 1000 days and breastfeeding practices, and provision of breastfeeding covers and hygiene kits.
Among the other local initiatives, nutrition advocacy was done in all public elementary schools. Quarterly hematocrit and hemoglobin testing was also conducted to monitor possible incidence of anemia, benefitting 1,780 children, parents and CHO/CNO staff who are underweight and severely underweight. Lectures on anemia prevention and supplementation of ferrous sulfate and vitamin C were done accordingly.
The CNO also adopted the Department of Education’s Oplan Kalusugan “OK” in Madapdap Resettlement High School. A Healthy Young Ones Training was given to all high school students, as well as the out-of-school youth. There is also a Teenbayan-Teen Center established in Sapang Biabas Resettlement Highschool to promote good and proper nutrition.
With all the nutrition and health programs supported and conducted in the City of Mabalacat, nutritional status of preschool children improved from 2017 to 2019. Prevalence of underweight, stunting, wasting, and overweight among under 5 children reduced from 2.43%, 2.73%, 8.4% and 2.89% in 2017 to 1.26%, 1.82%, 3.32%, and 1.51% in 2019, respectively. Improvement was also seen among school age children. Prevalence of wasting decreased from 5.49% to 2.04%, and overweight from 5.73% to 0%, from 2017 to 2019, respectively.
Through the support of the City Nutrition Committee, various strategies of the City Nutrition Action Office, and a workable City Nutrition Action Plan, the envisioned progress and development is underway, making Mabalacat City a recipient of the 2nd Year Consistent Regional Outstanding Winner in Nutrition (CROWN) Maintenance Award. For the coming years, Mabalacat city hopes to realize their vision down to the last family or individual in the City of Mabalacat, with priorities on the vulnerable sectors of the city.
Written by:
Ms. Natalie V. Pulvinar
President, Philippine Society of Nutritionists-Dietitians, Inc.
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