SAN FERNANDO CITY, July 31 (Anne Hazel Flores-PIA 1) – The National Nutrition Council (NNC-1) in Ilocos, in partnership with the League of Nutrition Action Officers of Region 1 (RLNAO) engaged their stakeholders through a Nutrition Month Webinar cum Regional Conference-Workshop, here.
“This annual event is aimed to update our nutrition action officers (NAOs) with the knowledge and skills to sustain efficient and effective management of local nutrition programs amidst this ongoing pandemic,” said NNC-1 Officer-in-Charge and Nutrition Program Coordinator Kendall Pilgrim Gatan.
Further, Gatan said that the activity will enhance the NAOs capacities and competencies to improve the delivery of nutrition services and further improve the implementation of programs in the communities.
“We want to reiterate that the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN) 2017-2022 is our guidebook to address hunger and malnutrition, and with the support of our NAOs, we would be able to create awareness on the importance of healthy children in the communities,” Gatan added.
In the same activity, San Vicente, Ilocos Sur Municipal NAO and RLNAO Acting President Reygee Rocero also encouraged her fellow officers to be the prime movers in achieving a healthy community.
“The first 1000 days of a child is so vital to his or her development and we, as NAOs have the power to take real actions on our goal for nutrition,” Rocero said.
The conference also provided learnings on the adjustments in conducting dietary supplementation amidst coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic with the goal to provide additional nutrient intake particularly for pregnant and young children.
Moreover, different nutrition interventions during emergencies and disasters, and managing and documenting information needed by the nutrition clusters at all levels were also discussed.
The online activity held on July 21-22 is part of the 47th Nutrition Month celebration with the theme: “Malnutrisyon patuloy na labanan, first 1000 days tutukan” gathered about 346 local nutrition committees and action officers, and barangay nutrition scholars.
Other webinars and online fora conducted by NNC for the month-long celebration together with their partner-organizations included local chief executives and punong barangays as targeted beneficiaries.
This is in preparation for the Mandanas-Garcia Ruling and Executive Order No. 138 or full devolution of basic services implementation in the local government units.
