Bohol Province – NNC 7 partnered with the Lady Municipal Mayors’ Association of the Philippines (LMMAP) and UNICEF in an Advocacy Forum for the first 1,000 days in Bohol province. The forum on enhancing LGU Municipal Nutrition Action within the first 1000 days was conducted in the municipalities of Mabini, Trinidad and Pilar on 26, 27 and 28 November 2014, respectively. The forum was attended by ninety-two (92) participants in Mabini, one hundred sixteen (116) participants in Trinidad and fifty-eight (58) participants in Pilar.
NO III Susan Y. Orpilla joined UNICEF Nutrition Specialist Mike Palma and LMMAP coordinator, Mr. Renato A. Llorin. Ms. Orpilla discussed the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition and its local adoption and the first 1000 days of life, highlighting proper nutrition before, during and post pregnancy, breastfeeding and complementary feeding.
“Researchers have identified the first 1,000 days of a child’s life—from pregnancy through a child’s 2nd birthday—as a critical window of time that sets the stage for a person’s intellectual development and lifelong health. It is a period of enormous potential, but also of enormous vulnerability.”
“Ensuring every child has the right start to life during these precious 1,000 days begins first and foremost with nutrition. The nutrition that we get from the food we eat early in life is a critical building block for the growth of our bodies, the development of our brains, and the health of our immune systems. Quite simply, there is no other period of a person’s life when nutrition has as profound an impact as in the 1,000 days from a woman’s pregnancy until her child’s 2nd birthday. It is why poor nutrition is particularly damaging to women, infants and young children.”
During the forum, the MEAL (Monitoring for Equity, Accountability and Learning) Program was also introduced where NNC shall provide technical assistance especially in the analysis, planning, IEC material production and distribution and capacity building.
Another highlight of the forum was the donation of WYD Iodine Salt Testers to each LGU visited by the team. The gadget will be used to check if the salt being sold in the local market is adequately iodized. Some salts in the local market remains non-iodized and not adequately iodized. The Food and Drug Administration provides that iodine in salt should be 30-70 parts per million. This can be ensured through regular testing, with combined regulation and monitoring by the local government units.
The forum ended with the pledging of commitment by the stakeholders to be involved in the implementation of the nutrition program and ensuring that the first 1000 days of life would be prioritized in their respective local government units. //DFB
