BETTER CONDITION. National Nutrition Council-Cordillera Administrative Region coordinator Bella Basalong briefs the media on the Philippine Plan of Action on Nutrition (PPAN) during the “Engaging Media for Healthy Literacy conference” in Baguio City on Wednesday (Aug. 14, 2024). She said the Philippine Development Plan’s desired vision of change is to reduce all forms of malnutrition for a prosperous, inclusive, and resilient society. (PNA photo by Liza T. Agoot)
BAGUIO CITY – A doctor from the United Nations Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) on Wednesday urged Filipino families to avail of locally sourced healthy food to ensure their health, especially in the first 1,000 days of kids’ lives.
Dr. Ma. Bella Ponferrada, UNICEF’s Nutrition Specialist, in an online session during the third day of the ongoing “Engaging Media for Healthy Literacy conference” in this city, said locally produced and sourced healthy food costs lower, thus can be easily accessed by more families.
She also cited the benefits of the Department of Agriculture’s urban gardening program that encourages residents in urban areas to plant even in pots to have readily available vegetables.
During the pandemic, DA distributed vegetable seeds and seedlings that residents can plant on their backyards or in pots to provide healthy food for the people.
In Baguio City, this was adopted in four schools as part of the curriculum to teach children about basic agriculture and growing food.
Citing government data, Ponferrada also cited the increasing obesity rate among school-age children, from 10.14 percent in 2018 to 14 percent in 2021.
For adolescents, the rate rose from 10.7 percent mark in 2018 and increased to 13 percent in 2021.
The Cordillera picture
In the Cordillera, a highly agricultural region that produces 85 percent of the highland vegetables for the whole country, data shows a downtrend in the prevalence of nutritionally at-risk pregnant women with 16.4 percent in 2021 to 15.8 percent in 2023.
The prevalence rate of anemia among pregnant women also dropped from 23 percent in 2018 down to 20.2 in 2023.
Prevalence rate of anemia among women of reproductive age also dropped to 7.7 percent in 2023 from 10.7 percent from 2018.
For children under five years old, the prevalence of low birth weight among infants fell to 11.3 percent in 2023 from 14.5 in 2017; prevalence of stunted children dropped from 26.7 percent in 2021 to 25.2 percent in 2023; and prevalence of wasting from 5.5 percent in 2021 to 5.3 percent in 2023.
Also, the prevalence of overweight was at 3.8 percent in 2023, down from 5.5 percent in 2021; and vitamin A deficiency recording 13 percent prevalence rate in 2023, lower than the 15.5 percent in 2018.
Bella Basalong, National Nutrition Council-Cordillera coordinator, in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of her lecture during the media training, said that while the region is not included as a priority area in the nutrition program, local government units have been exerting efforts to inculcate healthy food consumption among the residents.
She said people in the Cordillera and other agricultural areas are lucky because access to cheap vegetables, which is at least 50 percent of the desired “Pinggang Pinoy” program, is a non-issue.
“We have to adjust our budgets, buy what is in season because they are not just available but are much cheaper and readily available,” she added. (PNA)
