Pabasa sa Nutrisyon: Fight Against Malnutrition Through Education

Pabasa sa Nutrisyon, an advocacy started a decade ago, has helped fight malnutrition in Basay, Negros Oriental. The advocacy helped the undernutrition rate of Basay drop from 10.6 to 8.1 in 2017.

Dr. Jacqueline Ann Valencia spearheaded this advocacy in 2008 and gained support from all of the 10 barangays in the municipality and made the advocacy a part of their health campaign. Slowly but surely, this helped reduce the malnutrition rate of Basay.

Pabasa sa Nutrisyon’s goal is to fight hidden hunger and malnutrition by educating the parents of malnourished children, pregnant and lactating women, and other family members. Pabasa sa Nutrisyon is a fun learning activity where parents are encouraged to read aloud the portions of the Nutri-Guide and share personal experiences on related topics. Different exercises, demonstrations, and games are among the activities in the Pabasa sa Nutrition which help parents understand the importance of right nutrition and the dangers of malnutrition on their children.

According to PHN/MNPC Shellane Tubio, “Pabasa sa Nutrisyon have an impact to the parents of the malnourished children because in this way they gained knowledge and skills in giving proper health and nutrition care to their family members. Even though there is no assurance that all parents who attended the sessions apply what they have learned, at least we public health workers made an effort to make a change in the health and nutrition habits of our participants.”

The municipality of Basay, Negros Oriental believes that the campaign helped in the fight against malnutrition and will continue to educate and promote proper nutrition to the residents. (Aljun Cainghog/NNC7)