During their 1st Semester Meeting conducted on June 25, 2026, the Provincial Nutrition Council reported on the state of nutrition among preschoolers and schoolchildren in the province, alongside other topics such as the Monitoring and Evaluation Local Level Plan Implementation, Regional Evaluation, the accomplishment report of the Bantay Asin, and the upcoming Nutrition Month celebration in July.
The Nutrition Division reported that the combined numbers of stunted and severely stunted, and underweight and overweight pre-school children, have a marked increase yet also remained comparatively low from 2024 to 2025, making for a satisfactory score and keeping the province within the accepted parameters for the Seal of Good Local Governance.
Similar results were found in school-age children, though another report from the Department of Education detailed that Bayombong counted the highest number of children in the wasted category, followed by Alfonso Castaneda, Aritao, Bagabag, and Diadi. Dupax del Norte was reported to have the highest number of school-age children counted as overweight, followed by Solano, Bambang, Bayombong, and Villaverde.
For the upcoming MELLPI, the Nutrition Division singled out the municipality of Santa Fe and Villaverde as potential candidates for the Nutrition Honor Award, as well as their Municipal Nutrition Action Officer, Program Coordinator, and Nutrition Scholar. The Regional Evaluation will commence on July 13, 2026, and end with an Exit Conference on July 17, 2026.
The Bantay Asin Checkpoint reported on their accomplishments in 2025, following their mandates set by Republic Act 8172. Aiding in ‘combating malnutrition’, the Bantay Asin Checkpoint had inspected and enabled 646530 successful shipments of iodized salt into the province. Nueva Vizcaya now holds the distinction of having the lowest percentage of iodine-deficiency disorders in the region, according to the Food and Nutrition Research Institute in the Department of Science and Technology.
The upcoming Nutrition Month celebration will bring with a variety of activities, with the regional opening to be held on July 1, 2026. Contested activities such as poster-making, digital photography, and video-making will be available to both LGU employees and students to join. The deadline for submissions will be on July 3, 2026.
The Provincial Nutrition Council continues to monitor not only the health and wellbeing of the people of the province, but to raise the province’s distinction in these areas to be considered nationally ranked in nutrition. /igmb
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