“Make a healthy diet affordable for all” (Healthy diet gawing affordable for all!) – so declares the theme of Nutrition Month which is held every July as set by Presidential Decree 491 in 1974 to create greater awareness on the importance of nutrition.
This year’s theme is a reminder that keeping citizens in good health requires the cooperation of all sectors of society –government and private sector, including the non-government organizations.
The activities of many groups led by the Nutrition Council of the Philippines this month will focus on the importance of nutrition to raise healthy citizens, especially the next generation of healthy Filipinos. A healthy body nurtures a good mind for learning knowledge and skills to contribute to the country’s economic development.
According to the World Health Organization, “consuming a healthy diet throughout the life-course helps to prevent malnutrition in all its forms as well as a range of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and conditions.”
A healthy diet includes fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts and whole grains (at least 400 grams of fruit and vegetables per day); less than 10 percent of total energy intake from free sugars and less than 30 percent from fats; and less than 5 grams of salt (equivalent to about one teaspoon) per day, according to the WHO.
To make fruits, vegetables and sources of protein affordable needs government action and the support of the private sector. For example, making ways to have the supply come directly from the producers can reduce prices. Also, the availability of information on creative recipes for nutritious food from the season’s abundant produce can make the Nutrition Month slogan closer to reality.
The Nutrition Month campaign’s key messages are simple: Start children on a healthy diet with exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months, and continued breastfeeding up to two years and beyond with appropriate complementary feeding. Eat a variety of unprocessed or minimally processed foods, balanced across food groups, while restricting highly processed food and drink products. Nurture food gardens to be an additional source of food. And buy from local farmers.
Highly processed food and drink products fall under “junk food” that lack nutritional value and can lead to diseases such as diabetes and obesity. Recently, the government bared plans to tax junk food and sweetened beverages which will increase prices and reduce its consumption. The Nutrition Month campaign is also calling for the “reduction of the availability of unhealthy food through taxation, restrictions on marketing and consumer education.”
“The 2021 Expanded National Nutrition Survey showed that 33.4 percent and 2 percent of Filipino households are moderately and severely food insecure, respectively. Among these, 35 percent of respondents said they have been unable to eat healthy and nutritious food for the past year. The same survey revealed that nine out of 10 across all age groups were not able to meet the 100 percent of the recommended energy intake,” according to the NNC.
The mobilization of various sectors during Nutrition Month will call attention to the need to improve interventions for food and nutrition security. It is calling on policy makers to increase the availability of nutritious foods by giving subsidies, product reformulation and improved food value chains.
If there is something you, or your organization, can do to contribute to make a healthy diet affordable, let that be your investment on the next generation.