Our annual nutrition observance in the month of July was based on Presidential Decree No. 491, s. 1974, signed on June 25, 1974. The decree noted that (1) malnutrition is seriously affecting millions of our people; (2) it retards the mental and physical development of our children, weakens their resistance to infections resulting in unnecessary loss of human lives through high infant and child mortality rates; and (3) studies indicate that infants and young children, pregnant women and nursing mothers are most vulnerable to malnutrition.
Four decades and seven years later, we are still in a similar situation. The National Nutrition Council (NNC) notes that the situation is "expected to worsen as a result of the pandemic and limited resources for nutrition". Thus, the theme for this year calls for all sectors to focus efforts on the first 1000 days of life as the strategic intervention to prevent stunting and obesity. In a recent recall survey, NNC notes the low awareness of the first 1000 days strategy with only 11% of respondents aware of its importance. This is the situation in our country despite the fact that we have already Republic Act 11148 (the Kalusugan at Nutrisyon ng Mag-Nanay Act of 2018) in effect, mandating the scale-up of interventions and services in the first 1000 days.
"RA 11148 also identifies all the services needed for the first 1000 days of life, from prenatal check-ups, immunization of pregnant and children, dietary supplementation programs for the target groups, training of health and nutrition workers, provision of other health and nutrition services, psychosocial stimulation, and provision of other assistance that each stakeholder may offer. It also clarifies the role of each national government agencies and partners in the implementation of the program".
This year's theme is “Malnutrisyon patuloy na labanan, First 1,000 days tutukan!”
Why is the focus on the first 1,000 days of the Filipino child? UNICEF explains to us why this period is the brain's window of opportunity:
- Nutrition is crucial in early brain development. "The first 1,000 days of life - the time spanning roughly between conception and one’s second birthday - is a unique period of opportunity when the foundations of optimum health, growth, and neurodevelopment across the lifespan are established. Yet too frequently in developing countries, poverty and its attendant condition, malnutrition, weaken this foundation, leading to earlier mortality and significant morbidities such as poor health, and more insidiously, substantial loss of neurodevelopmental potential."
- Sensitive periods of brain development. "The first 1,000 days are characterized by rapid rates of neuronal proliferation (cell numbers), growth and differentiation (complexity), myelination, and synaptogenesis (connectivity). Thus, this time period harbors the greatest opportunity to provide optimal nutrition to ensure normal development and also the time of greatest brain vulnerability to any nutrient deficit."
- Iron: A key nutrient and a paradigm of nutrient-brain interactions. "Iron supplementation during these key periods of peak iron need, particularly during pregnancy, has proven to be an effective deterrent of later neurodevelopmental impairment."
- Plasticity vs. vulnerability. "The roots of some of the human’s most complex behaviors are laid down very early in life; well before there is the obvious behavioral expression of those areas. Indeed, one of the most striking aspects of developmental nutritional neuroscience is the finding that early life deviation from expected trajectory due to a nutrient deficiency can affect brain function in adulthood, long after repletion of the nutrient....Feeding the fetal, newborn, and young child brain is one of the best ways we can keep children through this expected trajectory."
We at Binhi join in this observance to ensure our children are able to grow within these promotive and protective parameters, and that we are able to ensure that with a strong first 1,000 days foundation, they are able to avoid earlier mortality and significant morbidities such as poor health, and more insidiously, substantial loss of neurodevelopmental potential they will need so much later in life.