13 January 2021, Cagayan de Oro City – The Operation Timbang (OPT) Plus is conducted annually to generate data on the nutritional status of 0-59 months old children. OPT Plus results identify how many and who are the malnourished children, as well as where they are located. These data are vital for the local planning and assessment of program/project effectiveness.
The 2020 OPT Plus results recorded that the prevalence of underweight among under-five years old children decreased from 4.5% in 2017 to 3.2% in 2020. Meanwhile, the prevalence of stunting in the same age group is fluctuating in the past 4 years but still, it decreased to 7.6% (2020) from 8.9% (2017). The prevalence of wasting and overweight in Northern Mindanao show increasing trends from 2017 to 2019, but it declined in 2020. Overall, the 2020 OPT Plus results, with an OPT coverage of 90%, showed that there is a decrease in the prevalence of malnutrition since 2017 in Northern Mindanao.
Among the areas with improved nutrition situation are the provinces of Bukidnon, Camiguin and Misamis Occidental and cities of Cagayan de Oro, El Salvador, Iligan, and Valencia, which showed a decreasing trend in all indicators.
However, there are still areas with high malnutrition prevalence, particularly stunting. Lanao del Norte Province recorded an increasing trend of children below 5 years old having short for his/her age in the past 3 years and ranked 1st among the 5 provinces.
Among the cities, Oroquieta City has the highest prevalence of underweight, stunting and overweight; but in Gingoog City, the prevalence of all the indicators increased in 2020.
The National Nutrition Council (NNC) provides technical assistance through planning workshops to local government units (LGUs) to deliver positive nutrition outcomes. This LGU mobilization strategy aims to scale up nutrition programs and projects of the LGUs focusing on the First 1000 Days to address stunting, together with the other nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive interventions.
Regional Nutrition Program Coordinator Gladys Mae Fernandez said that NNC X is hopeful that all LGUs in the region through the leadership of the local chief executive will recognize their crucial role to secure the right to food and nutrition for its constituents. Improving the nutrition situation cannot be solved by a single sector alone, it requires collaboration from other sectors and partners to achieve well-nourished children and productive citizens of Northern Mindanao.
Malnutrition remains a threat globally, particularly in this time of COVID-19 pandemic. The disruption of the economic, food and health systems due to the pandemic is expected to worsen all forms of malnutrition. And without timely actions, it could worsen the nutrition situation of the country and in the region. The 2020 Global Nutrition Report quoted, “Malnutrition is a threat-multiplier… If no action is taken, the effects of the current COVID-19 pandemic will only make it harder for vulnerable populations to protect themselves against malnutrition.”
Thus, the call to action from the local government units and partners is to invest in nutrition and to continue and step-up interventions in the First 1000 Days of life to improve nutrition outcomes. (NO II Arlie Joy O. Damiles)
Reference:
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). July 2020. Impacts of COVID-19 on childhood malnutrition and nutrition-related mortality. Retrieved from: https://data.unicef.org/resources/impacts-of-covid-19-on-childhood-malnutrition-and-nutrition-related-mortality/
Fore, H. H. et al., (2020, July 27). Child malnutrition and COVID-19: the time to act is now. The Lancet. Retrieved from: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)31648-2/fulltext
