Representatives from the Public Information Office (PIO) of the local government units (LGUs) in Metro Manila commit to support the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN) and scale up nutrition promotion in their respective localities in a virtual meeting conducted on November 17, 2021.
Facilitated by the National Nutrition Council – NCR (NNC-NCR), the meeting was held to encourage the PIOs to become partners in nutrition advocacy and promotion and widen the reach of the media campaign on nutrition in the region. All LGUs were represented except Makati City and Municipality of Pateros. Also present at the meeting were the Chair of the regional media group NCR Nutrition Communication Resource (NCR2) Mr. Marvin Capco of Mandaluyong PIO and members Ms. Lucy Brońo and Ms. Gelaine Gutierrez of Philippine Information Agency – NCR, and Ms. Abigail Contreras of Metro Manila Center for Health Development.
In her message, NNC-NCR Regional Nutrition Program Coordinator Milagros Elisa Federizo solicited the help of the PIOs in promoting good nutrition and informing the Filipino families what to do to ensure that children are protected from the deleterious effects of malnutrition.
“Good nutrition is important to improve resilience especially during this pandemic,” RNPC Federizo said. “We need to educate the public on nutrition so that they can make informed choice on how they can provide good nutrition to their families, especially to mothers and young children. Knowledge is power. We need to influence them to put into practice what they know about good nutrition”, she added.
RNPC Federizo gave a presentation on “Why Invest in Nutrition” to further explain the need for collaborative efforts of LGUs and various stakeholders in the fight against hunger and malnutrition. Also discussed at the meeting was the NNC Online Recall Survey Findings conducted by The EON Group in partnership with Tangere. The study conducted from January 25-29, 2021, aimed to check the Filipinos’ recall on existing programs of the NNC which include the 10 Kumainments, First 1000 Days of Life, 2020 Nutrition Month, and the PPAN. Results of the survey showed that there is low recall on the ongoing NNC programs. Also, respondents accessed social media first for nutrition-related information followed by TV, online websites/search, and health centers. With these results, Mr. Capco reiterated the need to involve the PIOs as members of their local nutrition committees in maximizing the use of digital media in nutrition promotion.
Participants stated their commitment of support to the PPAN and in scaling up nutrition promotion in their LGUs. Aside from their commitment, the PIOs also agreed to become members of the regional media group NCR2.
The NNC-NCR and NCR2 in partnership with the local PIOs look forward to scaling up nutrition promotion in the region using multimedia strategies: broadcast, print and social media.
Written by:
NOII Theresa A. Rivas and
NPC Milagros Elisa V. Federizo
