For the first time ever, the National Nutrition Council Regional Office 9 kicked off this year’s Nutrition Month Celebration with the theme “Batang Pinoy, SANA TALL… Iwas stunting, SAMA ALL! Iwas ALL din sa COVID-19!” virtually. Spearheaded by the National Nutrition Council Regional Office 9 headed by Nutrition Program Coordinator Nimfa D. Ekong, over 100 participants consisting of the Regional Technical Working Group (TWG) of the Regional Nutrition Anti-Hunger Committee (RNAHC), Nutrition Action Officers (NAOs), District/City/Municipal Nutrition Program Coordinators (D/C/MNPCs), Barangay Nutrition Scholar (BNS) Federation Officers, Nutritionist-Dietitians under the Nutritionist-Dietitian Deployment Project (NDDP) of DOH IX, Nutritionist-Dietitians Association of the Philippines (NDAP) Zamboanga Peninsula Chapter, and Nutritionist-Dietitians from Ciudad Medical Zamboanga and West Metro Medical Center, joined the virtual launching of the 46^th Nutrition Month Celebration on July 01, 2020 via Zoom at 9:30 in the morning.

NPC Ekong thanked everyone despite the pandemic still the support of nutrition partners can be felt even by just joining this simple virtual launch of the 2020 Nutrition Month Celebration. The highlight of the virtual launch is the presentation and discussion of this year’s Nutrition Month Theme. The 46^th Nutrition Month aims to raise awareness on the impact of stunting and evidence-based solutions to prevent stunting, stimulate discourse on stunting to understand its causes and the multi-sectoral solutions for increased investments in interventions, and generate commitments among various stakeholders to scale-up nutrition actions.

Also included in the program is the video presentation of “Batang 1000 (First 1000 Days) and “Ningning (First 1000 Days) that focuses on the importance of the first 1000 days of life of a child in the prevention of stunting. The video presentation emphasizes on the kind of undernutrition, its long-term effects and consequences, and the actions to be taken to prevent stunting.

The program concluded with the closing remarks of Ms. Evelyn M. Capistrano, Nutritionist-Dietitian IV of DOH IX. She hoped that all health and nutrition workers will work together and contribute to reduce the number of stunted children in Region 9.

Not only did the participants enjoy the first ever virtual launch for this year’s Nutrition Month Celebration, but they also had the opportunity to see different faces of their co-nutrition and health workers across the region even just virtually. Thanks to the modern technology and inventions, we were able to celebrate the 1^st day of the 2020 Nutrition Month amid this pandemic.

From the National Nutrition Council Regional Office 9, we would like to greet everybody a Happy 46^th Nutrition Month! Indeed, the virtual launch was a SUCCESS!

AA VI Cielo Katrina M. Mabalot