Region VII

Details: Category: Region 7; Published: 25 July 2022

JVF NM

Cebu Province - Nutrition Month is an annual event held in July to raise awareness about nutrition among all Filipinos. Presidential Decree 491 mandates the National Nutrition Council (NNC) to lead and organize a nationwide movement.

This year’s Nutrition Month theme, "New normal na nutrisyon, sama-samang gawan ng solusyon!", advocates for more nutrition interventions as we shift to a more sustainable living with the COVID-19 virus.

Here are some options for the public to support the key messages of Nutrition Month:

Details: Category: Region 7; Published: 20 July 2022

Food Choices

Cebu City – The World Health Organization (WHO) once mentioned in one of their Technical Report Series that diet and nutrition are important factors that are considered in the maintenance of good health throughout the entire course of life and the role of diet and nutrition as determinants of chronic NCDs is well-established. Hence, diet and nutrition play a major role in our overall health.

The good news is that we all have the power in preventing chronic diseases, by simply following a positive diet and by making lifestyle changes. The simplicity of choosing healthy and colorful whole foods, getting enough exercise for heart health, and refraining from smoking and excessive alcohol are the key variables that will contribute to determining your overall health.

But how and what exactly are these food items to take baby steps to get going. Here are great food choices to begin with and the best time to start it is now.

Details: Category: Region 7; Published: 19 July 2022

Social media

Negros Province - Malnutrition is a public health problem in the Philippines. This is a dietary deficiency that results in poor health conditions. We always think of malnutrition as it relates to children not eating enough of the right foods. It can also occur when children eat too much of the wrong foods. As parent, we are concerned with the nutritional needs of our children including avoiding risk factors that could lead to malnutrition. Understanding the major causes of malnutrition can help you form good habits when it comes to your own health as a parent, as well as the health of your child. According to UNICEF the main causes of childhood malnutrition can be categorized into three main underlying factors which are household food insecurity, inadequate care and unhealthy household environment, and lack of health care services.

Details: Category: Region 7; Published: 20 July 2022

Social Determinants Part II

Cebu City - The Social Determinants of Health (SDH) all influence and interact with one another to affect health and well-being. To understand how they work with each other, there are several frameworks being proposed. The most common is the one developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) called the Commission of Social Determinants.

According to WHO, there are two, broad types of health determinants that influence health and can lead to health inequities. These are Structural Determinants and Intermediary Determinants.

Structural Determinants refer to the Socioeconomic and Political Context in which a person is born and lives.

These include Governance, meaning how society organizes itself to make and implement decisions; Policies, meaning the economic, social, and public policies; and Values, meaning the social and cultural values that communities place on health. These factors can determine and lead to the unequal distribution of material and monetary resources which shapes a person’s socioeconomic position.

Details: Category: Region 7; Published: 18 July 2022

VSMMC NM

Cebu City - RNPC Dr. Parolita A Mission, the Regional Nutrition Program Coordinator of the National Nutrition Council Region VII shared the objectives and key messages of the 48th Nutrition Month (NM) celebration during the Nutrition and Wellness Forum organized by the Public Health Unit (PHU) of Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center held on 13 July 2022 via zoom conference. The forum attended by more than 100 participants aimed to strengthen lifestyle disease-related prevention, promotion, and control among members of its community especially its employees and clients both inpatient and outpatient services.

Dr. Mission, who served as one of the guest experts during the forum elaborated on this year’s NM theme “New Normal na Nutrisyon, sama-samang gawan ng Solusyon!” which calls for strengthened nutrition interventions and solidarity toward nutrition improvement as the nation shifts towards living with the COVID-19 virus. The 48^th NM theme, she added signifies the key role of nutrition in building resilience from pandemic to endemic paradigm.

Details: Category: Region 7; Published: 19 July 2022

Open Defecation

Maria, Siquijor – The municipality of Maria in this mystic island province of Siquijor steps up their campaign for zero open defecation (ZOD) to help curb the increase of acute gastroenteritis in the community. According to its program manager and Municipal Sanitary Inspector Ms. Nellyn D. Aguillar that “more than half of the barangays are already certified ZOD. We intensify the campaign to the rest of the barangays to increase the number of households to build their own toilets and eliminating the practice of open defecation to achieve ZOD in all barangays by 2022, which is the gmain goal of the program”.

The ZOD is a program that utilizes the approaches and strategies of Community-Led Total Sanitation or CLTS. CLTS is under the umbrella concept of total sanitation that includes a range of behaviors such as stopping open defecation practices; ensuring that everyone uses a sanitary toilet; frequent and proper hand washing; hygienic handling food and water; safe disposal of animal and domestic waste; creation and maintenance of a clean and safe environment. The DOH, through the National Sustainable Sanitation Plan, has set an ambitious target that by 2022, all barangays that are practicing open defecation shall be declared ZOD status.