State Dining Room, Malacañan Palace
December 3, 2024

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. presided over a sectoral meeting to discuss updates on the Department of Health’s (DOH) First 1000 Days (F1KD) Program at the State Dining Room in Malacañan Palace.

During the meeting, DOH Secretary Teodoro Herbosa outlined the Philippines’ nutrition challenges, highlighting a triple burden of malnutrition that significantly affects many Filipinos. These issues include undernutrition, overnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies.

He discussed the consequences of malnutrition, citing that over 75% of Filipino students perform below average in Mathematics, Science, Reading and creative thinking. He noted that the highest-achieving Filipino students are comparable only to the average students in Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei and Vietnam, and are on par with the weakest students in Singapore.

Secretary Herbosa also conveyed that one of the contributing factors to malnutrition in some provinces is people’s behavior regarding food consumption.

President Marcos Jr. underscored the need to enhance the National Nutrition Council’s (NNC) efforts to support local government units (LGUs) in prioritizing nutrition and health spending to foster better overall health and well-being.

He issued directives to the DOH and other key agencies to strengthen the initiatives of the NNC, emphasizing that the country’s healthcare requires intervention at the national level to effectively support LGUs through a revitalized organization.

Furthermore, the Chief Executive expressed his optimism that the F1KD Program will be successful, drawing parallels to the previous success of the DOH’s National Immunization Program.

The National Nutrition Council is a multi-agency strategic body that aims to combat malnutrition in the Philippines. It is led by the DOH and co-chaired by the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).

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