The National Nutrition Council (NNC) Region XII conducted a two-day Consultative and Advocacy Meeting on Nutrition held at NNC XII building, Koronadal City on 28-29 November 2011. The said meeting was attended by Provincial/City Nutrition Action Officers, City/District Nutrition Program Coordinators and a representative from the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) XII.
The said activity focused on recent nutriton issues affecting the region and updates on various concerns/matters to further improve the nutrition programs in the region. One of the agreements reached during the meeting includes the organization of the Regional Nutriton Action Officers & Barangay Nutrition Scholars' federation by December 20, 2011.
On the following day, there was a site visitation or "Lakbay Aral" to the selected areas with good practices and innovative projects in the region. The first stop is the Consistent Regional Outsatanding Winner in Nutrition (CROWN) & Nutrition Honor Awardee (NHA) Kubo of Koronadal City, which showcased the "bahay-kubo" concept.
The next site was the breastfeeding station of Barangay Dadiangas North in the tuna capital of the Philippines, General Santos City. The City Nutrition Action Officer (CNAO) of Gen. Santos City, Dr. Lalaine Calonzo together with the members of the Barangay Nutrition Committee, warmly welcomed the team. The breastfeeding station was awarded 1st place among seven other contenders in Gen. Santos City with the best breastfeeding initiatives and practices as part of their Nutrition month celebration last July.
Subsequently, the team visited the municipality of Malungon, Sarangani and was proudly toured by the members of the Municipal Nutrition Committee to their various nutrition projects, which consequently conferred the CROWN award given by thr National Nutrition Council for CY 2009. Some of the projects/programs include: Nutri-Care Center project, Adopt-a-Child program, Lingap sa Barangay, RFC Herbarium, RFC Mini Nutri-Farm, RFC Mini-Multipurpose Center, RFC Kamalig and KAPITAN project.
The "lakbay-aral" is part of the advocacy campaign which aims to recognize the good practices/innovative projects implemented by the Local Government Units and encourage other stakeholders to replicate those projects/good practices in their respective localities, thus promoting of nutrition and contribute to the improvement of the nutritional status of children and families as well.
