THE Nutritionist-Dietitians Association of the Philippines reminded the public that natural, unprocessed food is still the best as the group marked Nutrition Month in July.
“There are, no doubt, good qualities of certain food supplements which have been capsulized or powdered, like mangosteen, guyabano, moringga, but if truth be told, something happens in the processing, in the heating, some precious elements disappear,” said NDAP president Dr. Adela Jamorabo-Ruiz.
“It’s always best to go natural,” she said during a two-day seminar on nutrition care in celebration of the Nutrition Month 2016 at the Atrium Hotel on nutritional health during the first 1000 days of an infant.
The first 1000 days is the period from conception and the second birthday of the child. During this period growth faltering happens.
The seminar, co-sponsored by the Department of Health and the NDAP, was attended by some 75 nutritionist-dietitians from all over the country.
Josephine Guiao, DoH Development Management Officer IV, said the first 1000 days has designed “a comprehensive package of nutrition and related interventions in child stunting, underweight and wasting while contributing to complete child development.”
She said the seminar was meant to provide updates, opportunities and innovations on the latest trends in nutritional management for children.
Luz Tugunicar, resource person, spoke on guidelines on the management of acute malnutrition for children under five.
“The 2013 nutrition survey by Food and Nutrition Research Institute [showed] wasting for children under five years has gradually increased from 6.9 percent in 2009 to 7.9 percent in 2013,” she said.
She added that the rate is considered poor by the World Health Organization’s Public Health problem threshold for global acute malnutrition, adding “children who eat nutritious breakfast improve their school performance and less likely to be tardy or absent.”
She said an “average child up to 10 years needs to eat every four hours to maintain blood glucose concentration high enough to support the activity of the brain and the rest of the nervous system.”