15 March 2021, Cagayan de Oro City – It’s official! Implementation of the Tutok Kainan Dietary Supplementation Program (TK DSP) for pregnant women in Bukidnon began last 8 March 2021. The program was activated in all barangays of the eight (8) identified recipient local government units (LGUs) of Bukidnon, namely the cities of Malaybalay and Valencia, and municipalities of Kadingilan, Kibawe, Libona, Manolo Fortich, Quezon, and Sumilao. TK DSP covers 3,382 pregnant women beneficiaries, with priority to those who are nutritionally at-risk.
Pregnant women enrolled under TK DSP will receive food commodities containing 400-700 kilocalories (kcal) with 15-20 grams of protein good for 90 days. For the first 30 days, beneficiaries will receive enhanced Nutribun (eNutribun) followed by iron-fortified rice and viand from days 31-60, and eNutribun with Lipid-based Nutrition Support-Small Quantity (LNS-SQ) for the remaining 30 days.
The first delivery of the eNutribun was done last 8 March 2021. Recipient LGUs received 13,528 pieces of eNutribun, which were promptly distributed to the recipient barangays, and finally to the pregnant women, covering the first four days of the program implementation.
Aside from the food commodities, pregnant beneficiaries will also receive important nutrition messages through “Nutri-Text”. This will be sent daily to all beneficiaries as a way to share key messages on maternal and infant nutrition and support services, encourage participation and completion of the program, and provide a link for nutrition support via SMS and social media.
Before the program implementation, beneficiaries signed a consent form. Height and weight were also measured to record baseline data. This will be repeated on the 30th, 60th, and 90th day to assess improvement of the nutrition status.
Apart from accomplishing the physical forms, program implementation will be monitored via text. The Barangay Nutrition Scholars together with the other two identified focal persons in the barangay level will send daily reports regarding the consumption of food commodities by the pregnant women beneficiaries. Other information to be gathered are the actual date and place of delivery of the infant, and the child’s birth weight, if delivered during the program implementation. Consignees and inventory in-charge in the city and municipal levels will also send reports on the receipt and distribution of goods and on the completeness and quality of the food items received. The National Nutrition Council (NNC) developed a reporting system to receive text reports and feedback from the focal persons of the recipient barangays, cities or municipalities, province, and region.
TK DSP is a joint program of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) against hunger and poverty chaired by Cabinet Secretary (Cab. Sec) Karlo Alexei Nograles and NNC headed by Executive Director (ED) Azucena M. Dayanghirang. The program aims to contribute to the prevention of stunting through improved quality and quantity of food and nutrient intake and better utilization of Early Childhood Care and Development-First 1000 Days (ECCD-F1K) services among pregnant women and children under two (2) years of age in the identified Human Development and Poverty Reduction Cluster (HDPRC) provinces, which includes Bukidnon. TK DSP implementation is consistent with the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN) 2017-2022, specifically under the National Dietary Supplementation Program. TK DSP is also parallel with the PPAN’s strategic focus on the First 1000 Days.
Stunting is considered a major public health concern in Bukidnon. Results of the 2019 Expanded National Nutrition Survey (ENNS) conducted by the Department of Science and Technology-Food and Nutrition Research Institute (DOST-FNRI) revealed that 35.1% of children under five years old in the province are stunted, which is significantly high compared to the national result which is 28.6% on the same year. Through the implementation of the TK DSP along with Bukidnon’s collaborative nutrition efforts, it is hoped that stunting prevalence will decrease down to 21.4% or lower by the end of 2022 following the targeted stunting reduction rate of PPAN 2017-2022. (PNC Stephanie C. Barrio)
