Malnutrition cases in CV stabilizes, gov’t launches Philippine multi-sectoral nutrition program

CEBU CITY – The National Nutrition Council (NNC-7) in Central Visayas is pleased to report that cases of malnutrition in the region has stabilized this year and have returned to the pre-pandemic numbers based on the 2022 Operation Timbang (OPT) Plus data that NNC-7 presented to the members of the Media Information Network for Nutrition and Development (MIND-7) during its meeting on March 28 as the government launched the Philippine Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Program starting this year.

NNC-7 regional coordinator Parolita Mission lauded the role of the MIND-7 organization here in its continuing advocacy on the nutrition issue in the region with the participation of nutrition correspondents, reporters, bloggers and vloggers and social media influencers in the campaign for good nutrition that enabled people to somehow change their nutritional and healthy behaviors.

Mission, in her opening message said that the MIND-7 organization helped a lot in persuading policy makers to make nutrition one of their priority agenda, modifying the behaviors of mothers and caregivers on positive caring and nurturing practices especially in the First 1000 Days of a child’s life and rallying multi-sectoral participation and bringing stakeholders together to be involved in addressing stunting and other forms of malnutrition.

“2023 will be a pivotal year to improve food and nutrition security across the region as we rise to the challenges ahead: building stronger and more resilient human capital thru proper nutrition. I am confident that we will emerge stronger from this challenge,” Mission added.

Mission remarks augurs well with the country’s launching of the Philippine Multi-Sectoral Nutrition Project in Manila with the presence of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.  Mission called on all local executives to heed the challenge of the government by implementing locally nutrition specific, sensitive and enabling programs.

Malnutrition numbers in CV are good  

Cases of malnutrition in Central Visayas had stabilized this year with the underweight prevalence decreased to 3.6 percent compared to 3.97 percent in 2019 and a big spike of 4.9 percent in 2021, based on the 2022 OPT-Plus monitoring.

Obesity cases which was high during the height of the pandemic has also stabilized.  In 2022, the prevalence rate of obesity decreased to 2.8 percent from 3.1 percent in 2021 — while in 2019, the prevalence rate was 2.78 percent.

Stunting or chronic malnutrition cases in the region have also decreased, from 9.7 percent in 2021 (1 out of 10 children) to 8.5 percent in 2022 (2 in every 25 children) in 2022.

Acute malnutrition or wasting cases in the region have also decreased.  In 2020, during the height of the pandemic, 14,382 children suffered from acute malnutrition. These cases increased to 17,884 children in 2021 while in 2022, the number of wasting or acute malnutrition in the region decreased to 14,503 cases.

47 LGUs continue the 3^rd and 4^th phases of TKSP in CV

Meanwhile, 47 local government units from the four provinces in Central Visayas are to continue to implement the 3^rd and 4^th phases of the Tutok Kainan Dietary Supplementation Program (TKSP) that was launched in July 2022 but had met several logistic challenges that lead to officially start last February 16, 2023 with the identified 3,800 children 6-59 months of age that are given an additional one meal every day for six months.

This one meal, provided by the National Nutrition Council (NNC) for six months, children would be able to reach proper amounts of energy and nutrients to warrant the sustainability of weight gain and prevent long-term malnutrition (stunting) and its effects such as underdevelopment, vulnerability to diseases, and even death.

With long-term malnutrition or stunting among children below five remaining to be relevant problem in the region with 55,741 strong in 2022, a clear-cut solution is a must to make a dent in the nutrition problem. 

The program does not only feed children but also equips their mothers/caregivers with the right knowledge, skills and attitudes to build a conducive environment for the children to grow and thrive. This strategy is in-line targets of investing in its human capital and hopes to produce a healthier, brighter, and taller nation in the near future.

 

 

 

 

 

Samsung Electronics launches Galaxy A series, available in markets now

CEBU CITY— Samsung Electronics unveiled on March 15, the Galaxy A54 5G and Galaxy A34 5G, two innovative smartphones that advance Samsung Galaxy’s commitment to designing awesome mobile experiences.

These new additions to the popular Galaxy A series will help users shoot steady and crisp videos, see clearly even in bright conditions, and do more of the things they love with battery life that lasts more than two days.

“Cutting-edge mobile experiences are increasingly essential to everyday life. With continuous enhancements to the Galaxy A series, we’re ensuring that more people around the world can access our transformative innovations,” TM Roh, President and Head of Mobile eXperience Business at Samsung Electronics said.

Take awesome day/night photos, enhanced with creative editing tools

The Galaxy A54 5G and Galaxy A34 5G deliver stunning images with clear quality even in bright conditions, making use of Samsung Galaxy’s leading Nightography and AI capabilities. Whether users want to capture the perfect selfie or connect through super-smooth video calls, the Galaxy A54 offers astonishing detail thanks to its 32MP front camera.

The new smartphones produce video with amazing clarity, combatting shakiness and blur with improved optical image stabilization (OIS) and video digital image stabilization (VDIS). Even with unsteady hands or when filming on the go, users can be confident about capturing awesome content. For adventures after dark and in low light conditions, Night mode helps users to capture more detail by broadening the camera’s pixel size.

Users can also now remove unwanted shadows and reflections for the first time in Galaxy A series, thanks to the enhanced editing tools.

Both devices feature immersive Super AMOLED displays, measuring 6.4-inch[2] on the Galaxy A54 5G and 6.6-inch[3] on the Galaxy A34 5G. Both displays have been upgraded for astounding outdoor visibility, even under bright sunlight. With the enhanced Vision Booster and a 120Hz refresh rate, the displays will keep up with users as they move between different lighting conditions.

Experience Awesome Performance with Vivid Display, Fast 5G and Long-Lasting Battery

Galaxy A54 5G and Galaxy A34 5G also guarantee up to four generations of OS upgrades and five years of security updates. These features allow users to access the latest software and security to maximize the smartphone lifecycle.

Stay Connected Without Compromising Security

Enhanced mobile experiences rely on advanced security. With Samsung Knox, data is kept under lock and key with defense-grade mobile security. The Galaxy A54 5G and Galaxy A34 5G give users access to the Security and Privacy Dashboard, which makes it easy to see how apps are tracking data and enables simple ways to stop unwanted data collection.

When users want to share important files that contain sensitive or personal information with the ultimate level of privacy and control, there’s Private Share. This enables users to share files only to designated recipients within time limits and with screenshots disabled.

The Galaxy A54 5G and Galaxy A34 5G are also compatible with the Samsung Galaxy ecosystem to provide seamless connectivity between devices. Users can get 100GB of cloud storage and easily back up photos to OneDrive with a six month trial of Microsoft 365 Basic, accessible on the Galaxy A54 5G and Galaxy A34 5G.

Availability. The Galaxy A54 5G starts at P24,990 and will be available in three awesome colors — Awesome Lime, Awesome Graphite, with the Awesome Violet as an exclusive online offer. Meanwhile, the Galaxy A34 5G starts at P19,990 and will be available in two color options upon pre-order, including Awesome Violet, Awesome Graphite. The Galaxy A34 5G’s Awesome Lime’s color variant will be coming soon as an exclusive online offer.

From March 15 until March 30, customers who will pre-order the Galaxy A54 or A34 5G will enjoy P2,949 worth of savings, including a FREE Travel Adapter and a FREE Storage Upgrade. They will instantly get the higher memory variant for the price of the lower variant within the same model line-up.

Those who will trade in their old devices can also enjoy savings of up to PHP 10,150. In addition, they will get a 50% discount on the Galaxy Buds2 Pro and 30% off on the Galaxy Watch5 Series.

The Galaxy A54 and A34 5G are available for pre-order through samsung.com, Samsung Experience Stores, Authorized Samsung Stores, Lazada, Shopee, Abenson.com, and MemoXpress Online. (Photos: Samsung/Robby Alugar/MBCNewman)

At Oikos Orchard and Farm, You are simply YOU

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Vegging Out Episode 2: My personal journey to vegetarianism

My personal journey to vegetarianism continues and for this 2^nd episode I have chosen five places to go, they are; Sunset Sports Bar at Dusit Thani Mactan Cebu; 5 Cien Restaurant a Sheraton Cebu Mactan Resort; Vegan Island Restaurant at IL Corso Mall; King Crab Capital Seafood Restaurant in Talisay City and at The Kitchen and The Bakery Café at The Reef Island Resort.

1.    Sunset Sports Bar at Dusit Thani Mactan Cebu. New sets of dishes and menus were introduced at the Sunset Sports Bar on March 15, 2023 exclusively created for the finer and discriminating taste of the Cebuano palate. Dusit’s executive Chef, Karthnik Ravi and Sunset Sports Bar Chef de cuisine Victor Leme embrace the local food culture by sourcing out ingredients from the various local markets in the island.

The new sets of menus are exclusively created for the finer and discriminating taste of the Cebuano palate. Dusit’s executive Chef, Karthnik Ravi and Sunset Sports Bar Chef de cuisine Victor Leme embrace the local food culture by sourcing out ingredients from the various local markets in the island.

“We would like to serve dishes that embrace the local distinct taste of Cebu, though inspired from the various known foreign cuisine, even with our sauces and chilis, we are discovering new lines of local ingredients including fish and vegetables, to support the local produce,” Chef Ravi told this writer.

According to Chef Ravi and Chef Victor, they are creating signature dishes for the Sunset Sports Bar that are distinct menus for individual taste of diners and hotel guests both domestic and international.

“They’ll experience the local ingredients, putting them into a unique kind of flavor from the local market highlighting the best ingredients of Cebu.  This is just the beginning.  Our goal is to create all new menus of more than 30 dishes with the kitchen still open during sunset and beyond,” Chef Ravi added.

Sunset Sports Bar new dishes. Each dish is entirely and completely different with local and foreign influence.  The Sunset Sports Bar menu is composed of seven parts /categories namely:

Jewels of Cebu. Torched Goat Cheese with local honey from Taboan Public Market; Tuna Nikkie with yellow fin tuna from north island; Pulled Pork Bao Buns with Cebu Mango; and Caesar Chicken with lettuce from Busay province.

 Poke District. Spicy Ahi, Crazy Salmon and Shrimp Dynamite

From the Fryer.  Crispy Mac & Cheese, New Fashioned Calamari, Factory Nachos and Spicy Chicken Wings & Hummus.

Met and the Bread Event. The Sunset Signature, The Retro Burger, The Beet Burger, The Gangnam, Chicken Burger, and Sunset Hotdog.

Cheerful Grills and Mains. Lamb Chops, Catch of the Day, Black Magic Steak, Delicious Ribs, Strictly Vegan.

Side Dishes. Mix Salad, Garlic Rice, Potato Wedges, Steamed Edamame, Truffle Parmesan Fries.

Final Destination. Sunset Signature Halo-Halo, Cookie Lava, Cro-Nuts, Banana Fritters.

A combination of tastes explodes in my mouth as I tasted some of the new dishes from each category.  Come join me as I indulged and engaged my palate with these amazing new Seafood dishes:

1.    The Ceveche Tuna Nikkie with yellow fin tuna sourced out from the north island with Ponzu drizzle, chukka wakame, leche de tiger with fresh Cebuano yellow mango. The taste is similar to our local kinilaw but with all the wonderful mixes of ingredients, it is simply delicious!

2. The Crazy Salmon is my favorite, with the mixture of Tasmanian Salmon, tempura flakes, crabsticks, purple cabbage, Japanese mayo, sesame seeds, tobiko, cucumber and nori. This is really crazy, indeed!

3.    The Crispy Mac & Cheese just melts in my mouth with creamy tomato sauce, basil oil, grated pecorino cheese and mozzarella cheese.

4.   The Factory Nachos, crispy mix of various ingredients that explodes in the mouth with pulled beef ragout, sour cream, pickle onion, fresh jalopena, cheddar cheese, pico de gallo, chili onion and guacamole.

5.    The Sunset Signature angus beef burger patty, squid ink burger buns, soft shell crab tempura, cheddar cheese, garlic aioli, and Asiatic coleslaw.

6.    The Beet Burger is vegan with beetroot chickpea patty, feta cheese, garlic mayo, lettuce and picked cabbage.

7. Strictly Vegan with beetroot hummus, quinoa, frilled seasonal vegetables, cous-cous, dried kale, and spinach tempura.

8.    The Sunset Signature Halo-Halo served in fresh coconut and ripened jackfruit

9.    Cookie Lava. Cookie dough lava, salted caramel sauce and espresso ice cream.

I didn’t know what hit me with those taste explosions. Simply indescribable gastronomic experience!