Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) says he believes that proper nutrition especially among young schoolchildren, is the key that could help them perform better academically.
The secretary also said proper nutrition dramatically addresses the problem of stunted growth among the children.
Abalos thus called for full cooperation and collaboration of all nutrition advocates and stakeholders in implementing the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN) 2023-2028, the country’s framework and roadmap to combat malnutrition.
Speaking before the Philippine Partners’ Assembly for Nutrition on Tuesday, Abalos underscored that innovations in nutrition among schoolchildren have a direct relation to their improved academic performance.
“This is a good crowd. This is the main ingredient for the success of this PPAN program. It’s government, it’s NGOs (non-government organizations), it’s going grassroots,” said Abalos, who is also vice-chairman of the National Nutrition Council (NNC).
Abalos pointed out that proper nutrition or the lack of it, has something to do and has direct correlation with the students’ academic performance.
“It’s not always about the system, it could be about these kids having these nutritional problems.
There is a direct correlation between nutrition and academic performance,” he said.
The secretary cited as example the journey of the Mandaluyong City local government unit, during his and that of current Mandaluyong Vice Mayor Carmelita Abalos.
From being 17th among Metro Manila local government units in nutrition service delivery in 1999, Mandaluyong won the coveted Nutrition Honor Award in 2016.
The City bagged the highest nutrition award after initiating various programs designed to combat malnutrition and stunting among children beginning from their formative years.
Abalos said through the massive strides and collective commitment of various sectors and nutrition advocates, nutrition predicaments 50 years ago were addressed, notably reduction of stunting by 26 percent.
“Just six months ago, Mandaluyong students were cited. Why? Because we had the highest National Achievement Test for the high school students in the whole Philippines. So, there is a direct correlation of nutrition to academic achievement,” he stressed.
Along with other nine government agencies at the helm of the NNC governing board, the DILG was one of the recipients of the Philippine Partners’ Award for Nutrition for being instrumental in the multi-sectoral and sustainable planning, development, and implementation of PPAN.