To promote the First 1000 Days program, Marie Jane B. Lihao DMO II for Cotabato Province targeted to use the Broadcast Media for the month of July 2022 to advocate the value of the first 1,000 days.
MJ Lihao informed the public that First 1000 Days had most critical time to achieve positive and satisfying impact on a child cognitive and physical development. 1st 1000 days is considered a brief but critical window of opportunity to reach the child full potential. It is a season of both enormous potential and vulnerability. During 1st 1000 Days, the brain, body and immune system grows and develops significantly.
DMOII MJ Lihao reiterated that nutrition has a life-long impact on the future health and development of both children and the mother. Lihao encouraged the listeners to support First 1000 Days.
As a First 1000 days advocate, she summarized and enumerated the best practices that would focus on the said program. These includes but is not limited to:
- Exclusive breastfeeding from birth up to 6 months followed by accurate introduction of tailored fit complementary meals that would provide ample nutrition for the child during pregnancy, infancy and toddlerhood.
- Promotion and continuous support of good maternal nutrition during pregnancy and lactation
- Optimal support on maternal, infant and young child nutrition and curative health services during 1st 1000 days.
- Integrate key hygiene actions such as provisions of safe drinking water, proper handwashing with soap, safe disposal of excreta, and observing strong practices of food safety hygiene and sanitation.
- Scaling up of community management on acute malnutrition in emergency.
- Sincere promotion of proper timing and spacing of pregnancies, purposely to decrease the risk of neonatal mortality, preterm births, small for gestational age, low birth weight and allow for exclusive and continued breastfeeding up to 24 months and older if possible.
- Educate community on dietary diversity for women and children through integrated agriculture like backyard gardening and other nutrition program.
- Strengthening the evidence base and useful nutrition-sensitive agriculture interventions, nutrition assessment and counseling.
- Capacitate professionals and frontline workers through proper training in providing nutrition and health services to meet local and national needs.
- Understanding behavior change.
To wrap up the program, DMOII MJ Lihao reminded everyone to consider nutrition as the “Best Investment”.
Radio station who shared their support to the said activity includes 1026 Bombo Radyo Koronadal, DXOB 100.9 Radyo Milenyo News FM and 95.7 Brigada News FM Koronadal.
The said broadcast media hosting is in collaboration with Nutrition Program of the City Nutrition Office of Koronadal headed by the City Nutrition Action Officer Ms. Nancy Adalin, RN, MAN.(DMO II Lihao/NO III/RNPC)
