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BAGUIO CITY, Jan. 29 (PIA) -- About 79 Barangay Nutrition Scholars (BNS) from the six provinces and two cities in the region gathered for the first Cordillera Administrative Region(CAR) BNS Conference last January 28 at the Hotel Supreme here.
Sponsored by the National Nutrition Council (NNC)-CAR, the conference was aimed to provide the BNS with updates on the nutrition programs necessary in the effective delivery of their task. Likewise to provide opportunity to strengthen fellowship among the BNS in the region and to orient them about the Revised Nutritional Guidelines for Filipinos (NGF), said Bella Basalong, Nutrition Officer III of NNC-CAR.
Kendall Gatan of NNC explained that the BNS program is a human resource development strategy of the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition which involves the recruitment, training, deployment and supervision of volunteer workers or BNS.
Presidential Decree No. 1569 mandates the deployment of one BNS in every barangay to monitor the nutritional status of children and link communities with nutrition and related service providers, he informed.
Topics also included childhood obesity: Prevention and management strategies by City Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit Head Dr. Donnabel L. Tubera and overview of the revised NGF by Basalong.
There was also a sharing of best practices by Ms. Monica N. Sicat, a BNS of City Camp Barangay, Baguio City and 2011 Regional Outstanding Barangay Nutrition Scholar (ROBNS) and 1st Runner-up National Outstanding BNS 2011.
Ms. Sherilyn B. Balauro of the Benguet State University conducted a food demo entitled “Left Over, Make-Over”.
Other activities include accomplishment of BSN forms like BNS action plan, BNS monthly accomplishment report, and automated OPT Plus forms for BNS facilitated by OIC Ma. Eileen Bringas-Blanco. (JDP/MAWC – PIA CAR)
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4 February 2014—The National Nutrition Council-CAR (NNC-CAR) in coordination with the Provincial Nutrition Committee of Abra finally reached Tineg, one of the farthest upland municipalities in the Cordilleras. Because of its difficult topography, Tineg remains geographically inaccessible and beset with peace and order, and political conflicts. As a result, Tineg and its people have remained unserved and underserved, particularly of basic health and nutrition services.
OIC-Regional Nutrition Program Coordinator Ma. Eileen B. Blanco led the visit and checked the presence of nutrition and related programs. OIC Blanco and her team validated the records on Operation Timbang for years 2010 to 2012 noting that Tineg is one of the municipalities in the region with a high magnitude of undernutrition.
OIC Blanco challenged the Tineg’s local government unit led by Honorable Mayor Corinthia D. Crisologo to prioritize health and nutrition programs to improve the nutritional status of children and their families in the area. Mayor Crisologo and the members of the Municipal Nutrition Committee thanked NNC for visiting Tineg despite its distance and requested support in terms of technical assistance and capacity building. In turn, she challenged the MNC to plan and implement appropriate interventions to solve the malnutrition problems of the municipality. She added that nutrition is the foundation of good health, which is a key to achieving the municipality’s vision of productivity and development.
“Let us join hands in spreading that it is more fun in Tineg. Let the people of Tineg feel the presence of the government,” she happily concluded.
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- Category: Region CAR
BAGUIO CITY, March 15 (PIA) - -Members of the Regional Nutrition Committee(RNC) approved a resolution requesting the Regional Development Council to enjoin all local government units to organize Nutrition Cluster to protect the nutritional status of the affected population from the impact of disasters.
Ma. Eileen Blanco, National Nutrition Council-Cordillera Administrative Region (NNC-CAR) Officer-In-Charge, explained that the region inevitably experiences natural and man-made disasters like typhoons, landslides, earthquakes, floods, peace and order situation.
“The occurrence of disaster is a threat to the nutritional status of children and other vulnerable groups particularly the infants, underfive children, pregnant, lactating women and older persons,” she said.
The local nutrition committee shall compose the nutrition cluster of each LGU but may include other stakeholders.
“The local nutrition cluster shall be among the sub-structures of the local disaster risk reduction and management councils,” she said.
The nutrition cluster shall be responsible in protecting the nutritional status of the affected population from the impact of disaster by adhering to the guidelines in the National Policy on Nutrition Management in Emergencies and Disasters and coordinating its efforts with the other clusters under the local disaster coordinating councils.
At the national level, the National Nutrition Governing Board has adopted the DOH National Policy on Nutrition Management in Emergencies and Disasters stipulating the guidelines in the delivery of nutrition and nutrition related services during emergencies and disasters.
Further, DOH Department Personnel Order No. 2007 – 2492 mandates the creation of the cluster system under the DOH- Health Emergency Management Staff and identified NNC as the Chair of the Nutrition Cluster. (JDP/MAWC – PIA CAR)
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BAGUIO CITY, Feb. 21 (PIA) - - Regional line agencies that compose the Cordillera Bantay ASIN Task Force will push for stronger partnership among stakeholders to increase awareness and use of iodized salt and to ensure iodization of salt being sold in the region.
In a forum last Thursday, the task force members agreed to press for stronger ties among member agencies, local government units in the six provinces and Baguio city, salt traders and salt repackers in line with their goal to achieve 100 percent awareness and usage of iodized salt among Cordillerans pursuant to the ASIN Law and the National Salt Iodization Program (NSIP).
Bella Basalong of the National Nutrition Council in the region shared that based on the 2011 Food and Nutrition Research Institute survey, awareness on iodized salt among Filipino households stands at 78.7 percent but national average of usage is only 59.3 percent.
For Cordillera, FNRI data shows an 89.3 percent awareness, while usage of iodized salt is at 73.3 percent.
At the provincial level, awareness on iodized salt is high at around 92 percent in Benguet and Mountain Province but low as 60.5 and 70.7 percent in Kalinga and Apayao, respectively.
For usage, Kalinga posted the highest average at 79.6%, followed by Benguet at 77.8%. Abra posted the lowest usage at 50.1%.
Such statistics, prompted the regional ASIN Task Force to re-convene with the Department of Health as the lead agency and NNC as the governing board. Other member agencies are the Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Science and Technology, Department of Education, Technology Research Center, Department of Education, national Economic and Development Authority, Department of Interior and Local Government, Philippine Information Agency and Philippine National Police.
The Task force general objective is to ensure the sustainability of the implementation of the ASIN law and to ensure the iodization of all salt being sold or traded in this part of the country to help address the concern on Iodine Deficiency Disorders (IDD), especially among pregnant and lactating mothers.
The ASIN Law or Republic Act 8172 mandates all traded or distributed food grade-salt, whether locally produced or imported, should be iodized. It also mandates the use of iodized salt for processed food and in food establishment.
The NSIP, on the other hand, aims to achieve at least 90 percent of all households in the country use iodized salt. by CARLITO DAR
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Baguio City-- The second batch of the Training of Trainers on the Basic Course for Barangay Nutrition Scholar and Nutrition Program Management Training conducted by NNC-CAR was held last August 4 to 8, 2014 and August 11 to 15, 2014 respectively. The trainers training aims at creating a pool of trainers who will be expected to help train BNSs while the Nutrition Program Management Training aims to capacitate nutrition managers at the provincial and municipal levels in the planning and managing of local nutrition programs.
The trainings were attended by selected BNSs, Municipal Nutrition Action Officers and members of the municipal nutrition committees. Members of non-government organizations specifically BABENG, KALIPI and Nutritionist-Dietitians Association of the Philippines-Baguio Benguet Chapter also participated in the training.
Participants appreciated the training because it clarified various concerns in the implementation of nutrition programs in their areas and served as a venue to learn good practices on nutrition from their co-participants.
The trained participants can serve as speakers for similar training or activity and they are expected to conduct the activities they had indicated in their re-entry plans.
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- Category: Region CAR
BAGUIO CITY, March 13 (PIA) - - The National Nutrition Council- Cordillera Administrative Region (NNC-CAR) conducted an orientation on the Monitoring and Evaluation of Local Level Plan Implementation (MELLPI) to members of the Regional Nutrition Evaluation Team (RNET) in preparation for the 2014 monitoring and evaluation.
Kendall Gatan of NNC-CAR explained that the MELLPI is a monitoring and evaluation system established by the NNC in 1979 which aims to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of local and nutrition-related activities implemented at the local level.
It aims to measure changes in the nutritional status of children, determine the extent to which nutrition is integrated into local development plans and programs, and advocate for the continuing support for local nutrition programs.
Regional Nutrition Program Coordinator Officer-In-Charge Ma. Eileen Blanco stressed that during evaluation, members of Local Nutrition Committees should understand that the MELLPI is not an activity that they must be wary of, but rather, they should treat it as an opportunity to learn how they can improve or sustain their local nutrition program implementation.
The group has set the schedule for the monitoring and evaluation. Abra is the first to be visited on April 21-25; Kalinga -May 5 to 9; Baguio City -April 28 to May 2; Apayao- May 12 to 16; Mt. Province- May 19 to 23; Benguet- June 9 to13, and Ifugao- June 16 to 18.
Meanwhile, Joy Rojo of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and Teresa Abaratigue of the Department of Agriculture (DA) were elected RNET Chair and Vice-Chair respectively with the NNC as the secretary.
RNET members include Department of Budget and Management, Dept. of Education, Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Dept. of Science and Technology, Philippine Information Agency, National Economic and Development Authority, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Dept. of Health, Commission on Population, Dept. of Social Welfare and Development, Bureau of Plant Industry and Dept. of Trade and Industry.
Other members include representatives from the academe like University of the Cordilleras, Benguet State University , University of Baguio and Saint Louis University. (JDP/MAWC- PIA CAR)
