CEBU CITY, Cebu, October 3 (PIA) -- The National Nutrition Council (NNC) has launched the Visayas leg of the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN) in Cebu City on October 2, 2023.

The PPAN serves as a blueprint of action for the national government agencies, local government units, and other stakeholders for a nationwide nutrition improvement. 

NNC Officer in Charge Deputy Executive Director Jovita Raval said the PPAN 2023-2028 remains a directional plan for addressing malnutrition, which now includes four major interventions, namely: improving the quantity and quality of diets and the availability and access to nutritious food, attaining behavioral change consistent with good health and nutrition, providing multi-sectoral nutrition services as to feeding programs and alike, and fostering an enabling environment by a good governance and enabling policy environment. 

NNC is also pushing for a population-based intervention through legislation to improve the influence of choices when it comes to providing “front of pack nutrition labeling” showing the nutritious level contents of food items and the regulation on the marketing of the foods through legislation or local government ordinances. 

On the country’s commitment to nutrition improvement, one of the action plans to be implemented is the taxation of junk foods. 

The NNC supports the taxation by developing the Philippine Nutrient Profile Model that will define and distinguish healthy food from unhealthy food. 

“This is what we are creating, and from the Department of Finance (DOF), we are also waiting for its result, hopefully by the end of the year, we will already have the basis for the legislation,” said Raval.

The model will serve as the support to the development on the implementation of tax on junk foods.

“Hopefully, the taxes will be returned to the people through nutrition programs,” added Raval.  

New inclusions in the PPAN 2023-2028

NNC has also included a life stage approach in the PPAN 2023 - 2028.

This recognizes that nutritional needs vary at different stages of life, which interventions should be tailor-fit to these needs.

Nutrition is most critical in the first 1,000 days of life – from 0 to 2 years of age. 

The goals and targets of PPAN cover pregnant, lactating, and women of reproductive age, 0 to 2 years old, children under 5 years of old, school children, adolescents,  adults and older adults, and all age groups.

The results framework of the new PPAN is grounded on the theory of change, which includes a stronger emphasis on the food security interventions and problems on obesity. 

Current nutrition status

According to NNC, at least 10.4% or about 2.7 million Filipino families experience involuntary hunger in the second quarter of 2023.

The Expanded National Nutrition Survey (ENNS) also showed that stunting among children under five years of age is “high” at 26.7% or 1 in every 4 children. 

There is also a reported improvement in malnutrition incidence in the Philippines, but it is slow compared to other countries like Vietnam or Thailand. 

The factors of slow improvement include poor investment for nutrition and insufficient interventions.

The first 1,000 days of life is critically significant in improving malnutrition, as it can affect the development and growth of a child. (JAT/PIA 7-Cebu)