Palo, Leyte-National Nutrition Council- Philippines Executive Director, Dr. Azucena M. Dayanghirang served as Resource Speaker during the 54th Session of the United Nations Commission on Population and Development (CPD-54) Side Event entitled “Strategies to Address Malnutrition/Stunting Among Women and Girls in Indonesia and the Philippines via zoom platform on April 22, 2021.
ED Dayanghirang topic is on Stunting among Women and Girls with Different Socio-economic Background in the Philippines: Current Status, Influencing Factors and Strategies to Address.
The talk highlights nutritional situation in the Philippines and the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN) 2017-2022 as the blueprint in nutrition in the Philippines.
Likewise, the latest initiative on Tutok Kainan (TK) or Dietary Supplementation Program (DSP) for pregnant women and children 6-23 months old to address stunting in the country was also highlighted. According to ED Dayanghirang while TK/DSP is a nutrition specific program, it also served as a jumpstart to implement nutrition education classes and of other nutrition sensitive interventions such home and community gardening and sustainable livelihood projects to sustain food security at the barangay (villages) level.
In a question-and-answer portion, Dayanghirang emphasized quality services in the First 1,000 days is an effective strategy in addressing stunting in the Philippines. The quality services include complementation of nutrition specific and nutrition sensitive intervention. This includes among others four prenatal visit, exclusive breastfeeding in the first 6 months, micronutrient supplementation, dietary supplementation program, nutrition education classes, and home and community garden.
In her final words, in support of gender equality, the Philippine has a landmark legislation on Expanded Maternity Leave of at least 105 days for the mothers to exclusive breastfed their infant while helping the mother recover physically and mentally from the rigors of pregnancy and delivery. Preserving the life of both the mother and the infant and the for the mothers productively return to work is also the essence of the landmark legislation.# NPC CPDotollo
