Borbon, Cebu – Preparing the community to be nutrition resilient, the Municipal Nutrition Committee of Borbon conducted a five-day Maternal Infant and Young Child Nutrition (MIYCN) training to help strengthen the First 1000 Days program of the municipality. The training was held from 14-16 June 2022 at Borbon Municipal Health Office. It was attended by a total of 38 composed of Barangay Nutrition Scholars and Barangay Health Workers representing all barangay of the municipality.

The training was aimed to promote new norms on feeding practices among mothers, families, and caregivers and cultivate a greater understanding of good nutrition-related behavior.

The Municipal Nutrition Committee of Borbon, Cebu recognizes that optimal maternal infant and young child nutrition is essential for child growth from the period during pregnancy, and a child’s first 1000 days and is considered a “golden window of opportunity” for the child to grow and thrive. That is why the committee invests in training and other capability-building activities for its workers.

According to its MNAO Dr. Corazon Dotillos, “it is important that we provide our local nutrition workers greater understanding of the determinants of nutrition-related behavior and feeding practices so that they can disseminate information to their target audiences or groups to prevent malnutrition”.

Dr. Dotillos added that “together, we can help eradicate stunting and other forms of malnutrition by implementing the six critical interventions in the first 1000 Days including at least 4 prenatal checkups, iron-folic acid supplementation and balanced protein energy dietary supplementation for pregnant women; exclusive breastfeeding from birth up to 6 months during an earlier stage of infancy; age-appropriate complementary feeding while continuing breastfeeding from 6 months to 2 years and beyond and micronutrient supplementation for the older stage of infancy and toddlerhood”. // ND II Teresito M. Caayaman III, RND