“Malnutrisyon patuloy na labanan, First 1000 days tutukan!” is the approved theme for this year’s Nutrition Month campaign. This was approved by the National Nutrition Council Technical Committee during its online meeting on 5 March 2021 with the following considerations: a) limited awareness of the first 1000 days strategy at 11.2% which was based on the NNC Message Recall Survey in 2021, and b) implementation of RA 11148 or the Kalusugan at Nutrisyon ng Mag Nanay Act requires mobilization for scaling up of nutrition in the First 1000 Days.
By virtue of Presidential Decree No. 491 signed on June 25, 1974 by then President Ferdinand Marcos, Nutrition Month is observed every July. The same decree also created the National Nutrition Council (NNC) which is mandated to be the highest policy-making and coordinating body on nutrition.
The 2021 Nutrition Month theme calls for continued efforts to address malnutrition in the country especially in this time of pandemic where the result is expected to worsen. According to UNICEF, each day, around 95 children in the Philippines die from malnutrition. Malnutrition encompasses all forms of poor nutrition, whether it be excess consumption of nutrients (overnutrition) usually afflicting the obese, or inadequate consumption of nutrients (undernutrition) that leads to wasting and stunting.
The theme also calls for all sectors to focus efforts on the First 1000 Days of life as the strategic intervention to prevent stunting and obesity as things missed during this period is hard to catch up in later years. Moreso, stunting after two years of age is irreversible and obesity predisposes the child from non-communicable disease in later years. To understand it better, the First 1000 Days refers to a child’s life from the moment they are conceived until they have reached 2 years of age. With these and in the context of the First 1000 days of life, it is important that there will be appropriate holistic interventions during pregnancy of the mother and children 0-2 years of age not just in the aspects of nutrition but also on health, early education, psychosocial stimulation, among other social needs.
So we are calling on our nutrition partners that by working together, we can end all forms of malnutrition. Let’s focus on the First 1000 Days.
NO I Cielo Katrina M. Mabalot
References:
1. “2021 Nutrition Month Theme is Out!” from https://nnc.gov.ph/39-featured-articles/4875-2021-nutrition-month-theme-is-out
2. “DID YOU KNOW: Nutrition month is observed every July” from https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1006800/did-you-know-605
3. “Malnutrition in the Philippines is worse than pandemic” from https://mb.com.ph/2020/07/27/malnutrition-in-the-philippines-is-worse-than-pandemic/
4. “The first 1,000 days” from https://www.pregnancybirthbaby.org.au/the-first-1000-days#:~:text=The%20first%201%2C000%20days%20refers,system%20grows%20and%20develops%20significantly.
