City/District Nutrition Program Coordinators (C/DNPCs) of Metro Manila pledged their support to the promotion of good nutrition during the First 1,000 days of life during the C/DNPC General Assembly held on 12 January 2016 at the New City Hall, San Juan City. The assembly was presided by the Regional Nutrition Program Coordinator of the National Nutrition Council – NCR (NNC-NCR) Ms. Milagros Elisa V. Federizo.
The meeting was well-attended with all the cities and municipality in Metro Manila represented except for the City of Manila. Almost 90 C/DNPCs attended the event.
One of the topics discussed during the assembly was the results of the Operation Timbang (OPT) Plus conducted in 2015 in all the 17 cities and municipality in Metro Manila. The OPT Plus is an annual massive weighing of children aged 0-71 months which primarily aims to locate and identify malnourished children and use the results as basis for planning appropriate nutrition programs and projects.
The results of the OPT Plus conducted in 2015 revealed that the prevalence of overweight and obesity is highest among the 0-5 month age group. Also noted was the sharp increase in the prevalence of underweight when infants reach one-year old. The C/DNPCs recognized the need to intensify the promotion of good nutrition and child care during the First 1,000 days – from the mother’s pregnancy until two years of age of the child.
“The results of the recent OPT clearly show the importance of good nutrition during the child’s first 1,000 days. We need to increase the coverage of maternal and child health services which include pre/post-natal care, immunization, micronutrient supplementation and deworming.” RNPC Federizo said. She also reiterated that promotion of exclusive breastfeeding up to 6 months and timely and appropriate complementary feeding starting at 6 months with continued breastfeeding should be intensified. “Correct child caring practices should also be promoted through various nutrition education activities,” she added.
RNPC Federizo also discussed the Early Childhood Care and Development Intervention Package (ECCD IP) designed by NNC which aims to provide integrated services of health and nutrition, early education, and social services during the child’s first 1,000 days of life . She added that the program is set to start this 2016 until 2018.
The C/DNPCs of Metro Manila affirmed the need to really focus on the first 1,000 days of life. Being program planners, managers, implementers, and coordinators of nutrition programs and projects, they play a big role in the fight against malnutrition. They all agree that in order to win the battle against malnutrition, pregnant and lactating mothers and their children aged 0-2 years should have optimum nutrition. And this is what they will collectively strive for. (TAR/NPC MEVF/NNCNCR)
