As one of the identified recipients LGUs of TK-DSP Phase II, Malaybalay City, is now in action to prevent stunting among children 6-23 months through a joint program of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) Against Hunger and National Nutrition Council (NNC)dubbed as “Tutok Kainan.”

Giving nutritious food commodities to nutritionally at-risk pregnant women and children 6-23 months old is part of the National Dietary Supplementation Program of the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition 2017-2022.

City Health Office-Nutrition Section received 205 boxes of Fortified Food Blend from National Nutrition Council-X on 28 April 2022, ready-to-eat complementary food to supplement the meals of 6-23-month-old children. Food commodities are delivered to the barangays at their district drop points on a scheduled basis.

The implementation started on 2 May 2022, covering 527 child beneficiaries who will be given food commodities for 180 days. These children were identified during this year’s Operation-Timbang Plus activity. At the barangay level, Barangay Nutrition Scholars conducted house-to-house food distribution and provided nutrition counseling services to parents/caregivers on breastfeeding and appropriate complementary feeding.

NNC-X’s Provincial Nutrition Coordinator (PNC), Gwyn Balaba monitors the program’s implementation and solicits feedback, gaps, and challenges from the focal persons in the LGU and barangay levels and beneficiaries through City Nutrition Action Officer (CNAO) Eza Canonigo and City Nutrition Program Coordinators. Moreover, the Barangay Nutrition Scholars are required to submit weekly reports both via social media and physical forms in the City Nutrition for consolidation.

Through the unwavering support and collaboration of our LGU focal persons, Barangay implementers, and beneficiaries, stunting prevalence along with other forms of malnutrition in Malaybalay City will soon be alleviated.

Report by: Jezza Nina Marie Vega, NADA-CHO