Slide 3

Child Nutrition is guaranteed in the 1987 Philippine Constitution. Article XV Sec 3 states
that, “The State shall defend.. the right of children to assistance, including proper care
and nutrition and special protection from all forms of neglect, abuse, cruelty, exploitation
and other conditions prejudicial to their development.” Even before the 1987 Philippine
Constitution, several policies have formulated to uphold nutrition improvement in the
country such as the PD 491. The Presidential Decree No. 491, also known as Nutrition
Act of the Philippines, where the Government of the Philippines declared that nutrition is
a priority of the government to be implemented by all branches of the government in an
integrated fashion. Also through this policy, the National Nutrition Council as the highest
policy making and coordinating body on nutrition is mandated to formulate, monitor,
coordinate and evaluate an integrated national program on nutrition. The month of July
was also designated as Nutrition Month for the purpose of creating greater awareness
on the importance of nutrition.

Slide 4
Since the organization of the NNC in 1974, the national nutrition program or plan has been
integral to the national development plan. The Philippine Food and Nutrition Program, crafted
under PD491, is an integrated four year program involving the government and private sector
drafted by the National Nutrition Council. This consisted of a package of services and programs
designed to cure and prevent malnutrition and promote good nutrition.

Slide 5

At present, the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition is the country’s framework for nutrition
improvement and master plan to address the problem of malnutrition.

Slide 6

The PPAN 2017-2022 is an integral part of the Philippine Development Plan and contributes to
AmBisyon Natin 2040, the Sustainable Development Goals, and commitments to the World
Health Assembly. It serves as a guide for national government, local government units and
other stakeholders who want to be involved in nutrition action as it lays the targets, directions,
and priority actions. PPAN implementation is guided by four strategic thrusts. 

> One, focus on the first 1000 days, which refers to the period from pregnancy up to the first
two years of life.  This is the period when health and nutritional care is optimum because this is
the period when the body needs such the most.  If this period is missed, all shortfalls in physical
and mental development cannot be recovered.  The irreversible effects of not intervening in
this critical period will have an impact not only on the health status of the children but also on
their future performance in schools and on productivity as adults. 

> Two, complementation of nutrition-specific and nutrition sensitive interventions to address

the immediate causes of malnutrition as well as its underlying, basic causes. 
> Three, intensified mobilization of LGUs particularly on provinces with high levels of child
stunting to ensure that PPAN programs are implemented and actively reduce malnutrition to
targeted levels. Mobilization will aim to transform low-intensity nutrition programs to those
that will deliver targeted outcomes. It will involve capacity building and mentoring of LGUs on
nutrition program management to transform them to self-propelling LGUs able to plan,
implement, coordinate, and monitor and evaluate effective nutrition programs. The strategy is
also expected to complement the interventions in the First 1000 Days. 

> And four, reaching GIDA, communities of indigenous peoples, and the urban poor especially
those in resettlement areas where malnutrition has been shown to be higher, and should not
be left behind.

Slide 7

The nutrition-specific programs address the immediate causes of malnutrition specifically

inadequate food and poor nutrient quality, poor maternal and child caring practices.  These
are : Infant and Young Child Feeding, Integrated Management of Acute Malnutrition, National
Dietary Supplementation, National Nutrition Promotion Program for Behavior Change,
Micronutrient Supplementation, Mandatory Food Fortification, Nutrition in Emergencies and
Overweight and Obesity Management and Prevention. At the local level, some Nutrition
Activities being conducted regularly is the provision of Vitamin A capsule to 6-59 months old
PSC, Micronutrient Powder to 6-23 months old PSC and Iron-Folic tablets to pregnant women
under the Micronutrient Supplementation Program.

Slide 8

Complementing these nutrition-specific interventions are nutrition-sensitive projects.  These

are development projects that were tweaked to produce nutritional outcomes. Tweaking can
be done by targeting households with undernourished children or nutritionally-vulnerable
groups, or targeting areas with high levels of malnutrition, or being a channel for delivering
nutrition-specific interventions.
Three (3) enabling programs will be implemented to support the operationalization of the
PPAN. 
These include the Mobilization of LGUs for nutritional outcomes.  This strategy will be
employed to ensure that nutrition programs are budgeted and is well within the local
development plans of LGUs.  Policy development on the other hand is expected to strengthen
the creation of an enabling environment for the implementation of nutrition programs both at
the national and local levels. And lastly the strategy to strengthen the management support to
PPAN.

Slide 9

With devolution and decentralization as mandated by the 1991 Local Government Code, LGUs
became responsible for the delivery of nutrition and related services. Thus implementation of
the nutrition program became responsibility of LGUs, with NGAs providing general policy
directions, technical assistance and limited financial and logistics support.

Slide 10

From the national level, the plan should be localized which recognized the important role of
local governments and their leaders in delivering services to address the malnutrition problem.
The Local Nutrition Action Plan or LNAP translate the PPAN into doable actions, depending on
the unique situation of each LGU.  The LNAP is prepared by the respective nutrition committees
and should be an integral part of local development plans to be funded and implemented. 

Slide 11

A sound nutrition plan entails a well-defined situation of the community where the causes and
effects of malnutrition problems have been identified and analyzed, thus the importance of
managing the nutrition programs. Nutrition Program Management or NPM is a decision making
process of identifying potential nutrition problems and needs of a specific population group,
analyzing possible ways of preventing and controlling malnutrition 

Slide 12

Allocating resources based on needs and expectations and taking deliberate action to address
nutritional problems, including those related to monitoring and evaluation. 

Slide 13

“Nutrition Planning should be a dynamic decision –making process involving the community and the
public and private sectors”

Slide 14

This figure indicates the four phases of the NPM cycle.

The NPM cycle starts with planning. Planning is deciding in advance actions that would be taken
to address the malnutrition problem.
The Implementation phase of the NPM cycle involves putting the plan into action, monitoring
progress of its implementation and adjusting actions accordingly. Mobilizing resources is an
important activity in this phase.
The third phase is the monitoring and evaluation which involves assessment of the attainment
of objectives and identification of factors that contributed or hindered the attainment of
objectives. The results of this phase should influence the next planning cycle as well as in the
adjustment during the implementation phase. Re-planning is the phase where the results of the
monitoring and evaluation activities are analyzed and used to improve nutrition interventions
or programs. Adjustments of the goals and objectives as well as re-strategizing are conducted. 
Slide 15

Now, for monitoring and evaluation of the nutrition program, May I call on Sir Marven Escano.