National Capital Region

Details: Category: Region NCR; Published: 12 February 2021

Welcoming the Lunar New Year in the New Normal One of the most awaited celebration across several nations is the Lunar New Year also known as the Spring Festival or the Chinese New Year. The Lunar New Year is one of the most important holidays in the Chinese calendar. February 12th marks the start of the Chinese New Year 2021 – the year of the Ox.

The Chinese New Year is commonly celebrated through family reunion, week-long festivities, parades, and family feast of traditional Chinese food and delicacies. Traditionally, families gather to honour the heavenly deities and their ancestors. Many visit their relatives and friends, give red envelopes called “lucky money” to children, and enjoy sumptuous meals together. However, as COVID-19 still poses a great threat and quarantine is still in place in many areas, it is advised to observe the health and safety protocols during the celebration.

Details: Category: Region NCR; Published: 08 February 2021

Day 6 edited On January 16-22 and 26-27, 2021, the members of the City Nutrition Committee (CNC) of Makati gathered for an online planning workshop to formulate their local nutrition action plan (LNAP) for CY 2021-2022. It was a milestone both for NNC-NCR and Makati CNC as it was the first ever planning workshop conducted purely online via the Zoom platform in NCR. The workshop was attended by 16 CNC members and 7 members of the city nutrition secretariat.

The NNC-NCR team led by RNPC Milagros Elisa V. Federizo assisted by NO III Emerenciana L. Francia and NOII Theresa A. Rivas conducted the online workshop using a combination of lecture-discussion, plenary session, and workshops using breakout rooms covering the following topics: (1) Why Invest in Nutrition; (2) Review of existing documents on city plans and budgets; (3) Formulating the nutrition situation analysis; (4) Inclusion of nutrition in the priority development challenges; (5) Setting outcome targets; (6) Crafting the PPAN-based program; (7) Defining programs and projects to achieve outcome targets; (8) Developing project briefs for integration in the NGA-mandated and other sectoral/thematic plans; (9) Estimating budgets for nutrition programs, projects and activities.

Details: Category: Region NCR; Published: 20 January 2021

BNS Hygiene Kits for COVID 19 in NCR A total of 640 Barangay Nutrition Scholars (BNSs) from the 17 cities and municipality in Metro Manila was given hygiene kits for COVID-19 by the National Nutrition Council as part of its assistance to the Barangay Nutrition Scholar (BNS) Program. Each hygiene kit consists of a bottle of alcohol, 3 pieces of face mask and a face shield. NNC-NCR distributed the hygiene kits from January 5-13, 2021.

The BNSs are trained community nutrition workers who provide basic nutrition services to families with children 5 years and below, malnourished children, pregnant and lactating women, and older persons. They also link these families with providers of nutrition and nutrition-related programs and services. During this time of COVID-19 pandemic, the BNSs also serve as frontline workers being members of their respective Barangay Health Response Teams (BHERT).

Details: Category: Region NCR; Published: 04 February 2021

NNC Memorandum No. 010 dated December 15, 2020 One of the challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic is the disruption of health and nutrition services including the conduct of Operation Timbang (OPT) Plus and growth monitoring and promotion activities (GMP). Even now that most of the country is in general community quarantine or modified GCQ, people are still hesitant to bring their children to the health center to avail the essential health and nutrition services due to fear of contracting COVID-19.

The OPT Plus is the annual weighing of all under-five children or those 0-59 months old. This activity is done in all barangays in the country every year from January-March. The conduct of OPT Plus is important to identify and locate the malnourished children in the community that should be given priority in the provision of nutrition interventions. OPT Plus data also help the community in determining the severity and nature of malnutrition in their locality that can be used as reference in planning nutrition programs and interventions. The OPT Plus is carried out in the communities by the Barangay Nutrition Scholars (BNSs) and other health and nutrition workers.

Details: Category: Region NCR; Published: 17 January 2021

GAW 2021 By virtue of Presidential Proclamation No.1188, series of 2006, every 4^th week of January is Goiter Awareness Week or GAW which falls on January 24 to 30 this year.

A goiter is is an abnormal enlargement of the thyroid gland. The thyroid gland is the small, butterfly-shaped gland located in the neck below the Adam’s apple. It produces hormones such as thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3) that regulate the body's temperature, metabolism, and heart rate. Insufficient iodine intake over a long period of time can cause the thyroid gland to work harder to produce the right amount of these hormones. The thyroid gland will increase in size to trap Iodine, making it visible in the neck.

Aside from simple goiter, deficiency in iodine has other adverse effects particularly on growth and development. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), iodine deficiency during pregnancy can result to stillbirth, spontaneous abortion, and congenital abnormalities such cretinism - an irreversible form of mental retardation. Iodine deficiency also reduces the individual’s intellectual capacity resulting to poor academic performance and productivity.

Details: Category: Region NCR; Published: 29 January 2021

Nutrition lectures and food packs provided to nutritionally-at-risk pregnant women in Pasig City. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to make life difficult to many Filipinos. Many have lost their jobs and more families struggle even more against hunger and malnutrition.

Aware of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on nutrition, the Pasig City Nutrition Committee through the City Nutrition Office is doing its best to prevent the possible worsening of the nutritional status of mothers and their children. They responded by continuously delivering nutrition services especially to pregnant and lactating women and children less than 2 years of age or those belonging to the first 1000 days of the child.

Last December 2020, as instructed by Pasig City Nutrition Committee Chair Mayor Vico Sotto, the Pasig City Nutrition Office provided food packs to 1,000 nutritionally-at-risk pregnant and lactating mothers. Packed inside the “katsa” bag were fortified food items: six (6) kilos of iron-fortified rice, one (1) kg of iodized salt, two (2) liters of cooking oil fortified with Vitamin A, 12 packs of fortified pasta, and 24 sachets of Lipid-based Nutrition Supplement in Small Quantity or LNS-SQ especially designed to meet the daily micronutrient requirements of pregnant and lactating women.