Director's Message on the 2015 Nutrition Month Launching | National Nutrition Council (NNC), Republic of the Philippines

This day signals the start of the nationwide campaign of the 41st Nutrition Month with theme “Timbang iwasto sa tamang nutrisyon at ehersisyo!” This year’s focus of the celebration is on the increasing problem of overweight and obesity in our country and its prevention through proper diet and physical activity and a call to action to promote a health promoting environment.

The NNC chose to focus on overweight and obesity this year to bring to everybody’s attention the need to step-up current efforts to address this complex problem. Globally, there are more than 42 million children under five years who are overweight while more than 500 million obese adults. The Second International Conference on Nutrition in Rome last year, calls for the eradication of hunger and prevent all forms of malnutrition. The target of the Global Plan of Action on Noncommunicable Diseases aims to halt the rise of obesity by 2025. The Philippine Plan of Action for 2011-2016 targets a no increase in 2008 levels but it seems that we are unlikely to achieve this target.

Addressing obesity is a very big challenge. Overweight and obesity happens not just because of poor individual choices but because of the complex interplay of a changing physical environment and socio-economic status; changing dietary patterns and the reduction in physical activity.
We have representatives from various sectors here present, because addressing overweight and obesity is not just a health concern but a societal problem. We need support of everyone if we are to make drastic changes in the way we eat, the way we work and the way we move.

This means that everybody has a responsibility to prevent overweight and obesity. Individuals must have the will to eat healthy and level up their physical activity.

Families, especially parents and care providers, must be the role model for their children if childhood obesity is to be prevented. Families should be able to limit the screen time of children to no more than 2 hours a day so they have time to play and move.

Mothers (with the help of the father) must decide to breastfeed her child because it protects the baby from becoming undernourished and overnourished later in life. Communities must be reshaped to enable people to safely engage in physical activity and exercise. Food establishments including carinderias must be able to serve healthier food options particularly vegetables and fruits which is very much missing in most plates.

The food industry has failed to promote nutrition by coming up with various food products that contain little or no nutrition. The aggressive marketing of these food products and establishments have endeared themselves to children. How many of you have apo or children who want to go to the restaurant with an insect for a mascot? Who becomes responsible for controlling these marketing strategies? Currently, advertisement of foods is through self-regulation.

Amidst these failures in responsibilities to provide the correct nutrition, government must therefore step in to correct the situation. Laws must be enacted to regulate the marketing of foods and beverages to children. Government both national and local government must be able to scale up nutrition interventions so that children grow properly and reduce their risk to obesity in later life.

The NNC, together with WHO, has recently organized a workshop to craft an a plan of action to prevent childhood obesity in the country. As the coordinating body on nutrition, the NNC will take a more active role to bring together sectors that will promote a health-promoting environment to ward off the obesogenic environment. Such action includes having the national physical activity guidelines revived and promoted.

The NNC calls on the different sectors as you all have a role to play in ensuring that healthy foods are available and affordable and that consumers are provided with a wide range of food choices; and the work and play areas promote physical activity. We have invited various groups to share their good practices in obesity-prevention and we hope that others will learn from their experiences.

The month of July is composed only of 31 days. The call to action does not end with the end of Nutrition Month but only the beginning. We call on everyone to do your responsibility to prevent overweight and obesity.

Thank you for coming to the Nutrition Month launch and I hope that together we will be able to work together to prevent obesity.

Mabuhay tayong lahat!