3 August 2020, Cagayan de Oro City – In the recently held 2020 Nutrition Month Webinar of the National Nutrition Council (NNC) X, resource person Dr. Martin Parreño of the UN World Food Programme disclosed that children 6-23 months old in Northern Mindanao do not meet the Minimum Acceptable Diet (MAD).
Minimum Acceptable Diet is an indicator on how sufficient children are eating. It can be estimated through a calculation factoring in the Minimum Dietary Diversity (MDD) and Minimum Meal Frequency (MMF).
MDD is the proportion of children aged 6-23 months who consume foods from four (4) or more out of the seven (7) food groups for complementary feeding. These food groups are as follows: 1) grains, roots and tubers, 2) legumes and nuts, 3) dairy products (milk, yogurt, cheese), 4) flesh foods (meat, fish, poultry and liver/organ meats), 5) eggs, 6) vitamin A rich fruits and vegetables and 7) other fruits and vegetables. Just recently, an 8th food item is added to the list, which is breastfeeding, according to the Global State of Food Security and Nutrition 2020. Dr. Parreño shared that in 2015, MDD data for NorMin stands very low at 32.7%.
Further, Dr. Parreño emphasized the age group 6-23 months old because these children are the most dependent from their parents or caregivers in terms of food.
On the other hand, the World Health Organization defines MMF as the “proportion of breastfed and non-breastfed children 6-23.9 months of age who receive solid, semi-solid, or soft foods or milk feeds the minimum number of times or more.” Specifically, 6-8 months old are recommended to eat 2 meals daily, while those 9-23 months old should eat 3 meals daily. Non-breastfed infants aged 6-23 months must eat 4 meals every day.
While 2015 data in Region 10 shows that 89.2 % are meeting the Minimum Meal Frequency, the bulk of the problem lies on the MDD, thus only 23.6% children 6-23 months old meeting the Minimum Acceptable Diet.
Dr. Parreño highlighted that there is a need to increase MDD to compensate the high MMF, in order to increase MAD.
“If food intake is good, plus the health services, malnutrition specifically stunting, wasting, and micronutrient deficiencies can be prevented”, Dr. Parreño said.
The data presented call for a collective action from government agencies, local government units, and stakeholders to step up efforts in guaranteeing that children 6-23 months old meet the Minimum Acceptable Diet as an effort to scale up nutrition in the First 1000 Days. Also, mothers and caregivers should be aware of their role in making sure that their children eat the recommended foods with the right amount and frequency.
This and other key points were discussed by Dr. Parreño during the NNC X webinar entitled “Safeguarding Nutritional Opportunities of First 1000 Days of life in the context of COVID-19” held 29 July 2020 via Zoom. (NO III Sheena Marie G. Talle)
