National Capital Region

Details: Category: Region NCR; Published: 28 October 2020

The Five Keys in Food Safety to Prevent Foodborne Diseases Upset stomach, nausea, frequent vomiting, stomach cramps, diarrhea, and fever: these are just some of the common symptoms of food poisoning. Based on a study on the foodborne disease outbreaks in the Philippines from 2005-2018, meat-containing dishes were the most common causative food for poisoning. Also, households were found to be one of the most prone settings for foodborne disease outbreaks.

Most food borne diseases are caused by dangerous microorganisms and/or toxic chemical in the food and water we consume. Examples of these microorganisms are:

Bacteria – Salmonella, Shigella, Campylobacter and E.Coli;
Parasites – Giardia, Trichinella; and
Viruses – Hepatits A, Norovirus.

Common reasons why people get sick with food and water-borne diseases are: 1.) unsafe sources of drinking water; 2.) improper disposal of human waste; 3.) unhygienic practices, like spitting anywhere, blowing or picking the nose; and 4.) unsafe food handling and preparation practices (i.e. street foods).

Details: Category: Region NCR; Published: 23 October 2020

Presentation1 The National Nutrition Council – NCR (NNC-NCR) recognizes the need to capitalize on the use of social media for the promotion of good nutrition since almost everyone uses the different social media platforms, especially Facebook.

As of the 3rd quarter of 2019, Facebook, together with Youtube were the most popularly used social media platforms in the country with almost 74 million Facebook users from Philippines alone. (Statistica, 2020)

Nowadays, almost all agencies and local government units (LGU) have their own social media account to promote their programs and activities in a wider audience both locally and globally.

Details: Category: Region NCR; Published: 15 October 2020

Be a handwashing hero! Wash hands. Save lives. Heroes are awesome. They protect countless lives from villainous attacks. Will you believe me when I say that you are also saving the lives of other people? By practicing proper handwashing, you are also a hero that protects the lives of everyone around you from deadly infections.

Proper handwashing is the simplest yet most effective intervention an individual can do to prevent serious diseases from spreading. Sam Stephens, head of Clean the World Foundation, said that “By just handwashing with soap can reduce death rates from pneumonia and diarrhea up to 65%. When people wash their hands in the right ways at the right times, it can be more effective than medication, vaccine, or even clean water, as a single intervention against these diseases”. The possibility of being infected and infecting other people with germs like salmonella, e. coli 0157, and, of course, novel coronavirus, can dramatically decrease by washing your hands for more than 20 seconds.

Details: Category: Region NCR; Published: 22 October 2020

Timely Introduction, Adequate, Safe, Active Feeding: A guide to a successful Complementary Feeding Providing the best nutrition during the first 1000 days of life gives the child the best start to a bright future. Dubbed as the golden window of opportunity, the first 1000 days is the period from pregnancy until the child’s 2nd year of life. A pregnant woman should be healthy to give birth to a healthy baby. After birth, optimal feeding during the first two (2) years of life will ensure the optimal growth and development of the child.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF recommend exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life and introduction of nutritionally-adequate and safe complementary (solid) foods at 6 months together with continued breastfeeding up to 2 years of age or beyond as the appropriate infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices.

However, results of the 2019 Expanded National Nutrition Survey conducted by the DOST-Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) show that the Philippines has a low adherence to the IYCF guidelines especially on complementary feeding. Results show that 74.2% or 7 out 10 children 6-23 months old received timely introduction of complementary feeding at 6 months and most of them eat commercial baby food instead of regular complementary food such as lugaw (porridge), mashed vegetables, fruits, etc.

Details: Category: Region NCR; Published: 09 October 2020

BNAO Conference The first ever online conference of the Barangay Nutrition Action Officers of Metro Manila is set to take place in November this year. In a meeting of the Association of Nutrition Action Officers of NCR (ANAO-NCR), Inc. held on September 29, 2020, the group agreed that that the Association will be partnering with the National Nutrition Council-NCR in holding this event online.

The Barangay Nutrition Action Officers (NAOs) are among the key personalities in the implementation of the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition or PPAN in the communities. The PPAN is the government’s masterplan in improving the nutrition situation of the country. As the focal persons for nutrition in the barangay, the BNAOs are responsible for coordinating the PPAN programs on the ground. The BNAOs assist the Barangay Chairperson being the Chair of the Barangay Nutrition Committee (BNC) in ensuring that the BNC is active and functional. They initiate regular BNC meetings as take the lead in the formulation of the Barangay Nutrition Action Plan (BNAP). They also work for the integration of the BNAP in the barangay development plans and budgets. They also assess the progress of their BNAP implementation and provide administrative supervision to the barangay nutrition workers called Barangay Nutrition Scholars (BNS).

Details: Category: Region NCR; Published: 20 October 2020

Smartphone photography It is a known fact that humans are visual creatures. As a result, pictures and images are commonly used to convey information in various forms of media especially on websites and social media platforms.

Social media such as Facebook has become crowded through the years due to the increasing number of users and businesses using it. With pictures and images, posts can draw more attention and engagement than just plain text.