NNC 7 Boosts Efforts to Counter Stunting in CV

Stunting is one of the adverse effects of malnutrition that hinders the child’s development and can cause adverse effects on their health, especially on the child’s growth.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Filipino kids are getting shorter and there are 1 out of 3 Filipino children who suffer from stunting in the Philippines — 5th in the East Asia Pacific Region.

Stunting occurs when a child does not get the proper nutrition in the first 1000 days of his/her life — the effects are irreversible, but it can be prevented.

This year, different programs and activities by the National Nutrition Council Region VII (NNC 7) will be geared towards the prevention of stunting in the Central Visayas.

According to the 2019 Operation Timbang Plus (OPT Plus) report, 10.25% (75,535) of children in Region 7 suffer stunting but declined by 14.2% in the said year.

NNC 7 Regional Nutrition Program Coordinator Dr. Parolita Mission said she is happy about the decline in the cases of malnutrition especially with stunting in Central Visayas and will intensify their efforts in the prevention of malnutrition in the region.

“We are happy with the decline in the prevalence of all indices of malnutrition (stunting, underweight, wasting and overweight) in Central Visayas in 2019. We appreciate the efforts and contributions of the different partners particularly the Local Government Units, National Line Agencies, Non-Government Organizations, media and other stakeholders in achieving these results. However, we still need to intensify the campaign because we want to further decrease especially in stunting,” said Dr. Mission.

Meanwhile, the 46th Nutrition Month Celebration will be focused on the stunting of children with the theme: “Batang Pinoy SANA TALL Iwas Stunting SAMA ALL”. (ASC)