Rise in teen pregnancy alarms health advocates
By Ma. Anna Rita M. Ramirez
MANILA, Mar. 22 - Teen pregnancy in the Philippines
is on the rise , according to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) which
recently disclosed that at least one in 10 girls, 15 to 19 years old become
pregnant. This figure is up by 2.1
percentage points since 2003.
According to UNFPA, the Philippines is “the only
Asia-Pacific country where the rate of teen pregnancies rose over the last two
decades.” At least 19 in 100 girls,
18-24 years old had first sexual intercourse before reaching 18, as 2 in 100
girls 15-24 years old did similarly before age 15. These figures represent 4.4 and 0.8
percentage points increase over a 10-year survey period, respectively.
These data suggest a sustained increase in sexual
activities and pregnancies at an early age, according to the 2013 Philippines
National Health and Demographic Survey (NDHS).
These statistics reflect the implementation status
of the Reproductive Health (RH) Law (Republic Act No. 10354), that “ensures
access to reproductive health information, life-saving commodities, and
services to reduce maternal mortality and empower families to decide the number
and spacing of their children”, teen pregnancy included.
At least 28.7 percent of married teens 15-19 years
old have “unmet need” for family planning.
Specifically, 24.9 percent have “unmet need” “for spacing” and 3.9
percent for “limiting”, the 2013 NDHS adds, implying inadequate access to
reproductive healthcare among this age group.
The 2015 Updating Survey of the Department of
Science and Technology’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute (DOST-FNRI)
disclosed that 24.7 percent of pregnant Filipino women were
nutritionally-at-risk, of which 39.7 percent are below 20 years old.
The 2013 FNRI National Nutrition Survey on the
other hand, revealed that only 43.4 percent of pregnant women surveyed availed
of nutrition counselling.
Advocates of the First 1000 Days say these figures
leave a vacuum for health and nutrition intervention, especially as teen
pregnancy is a far more fragile condition compared to the regular pregnancy of
adult women.
The whole nine months or 270 days of human
gestation is critical for adequate growth and development of the fetus that
requires constant pre-natal care of the pregnant woman.
Teen pregnancy is more complicated since the body
of an adolescent female is not yet fully developed to cope with the demands of
pregnancy on top of the physiological demands for her own growth in height,
weight and body fat at this life stage, according to Stang (2000)
These physiological demands should be supported
with added requirements for energy and other nutrients.
Difference in growth maturity among female
adolescents across chronological age exacerbates the plight of the pregnant,
younger and more “biologically immature” ones.
There is competition between the teenage mother and
the fetus for energy and nutrients compared to their “non-growing” counterparts
or those who are biologically mature, Stang adds.
Implications of early pregnancy among
“still-growing pregnant adolescents”, which is more than 50 percent, can be
summarized as poor pregnancy outcome, including low birthweight infants and
tendency to retain weight gained after childbirth for the mothers, Stang
further notes.
Prognosis for low birthweight infants whose health
and nutritional needs are inadequately met is poor, resulting to early
stunting.
Increased weight gain among teen mothers will
implicate later into their adult years as non-communicable diseases. And the cycle goes on.
The First 1000 Days is identified as the “window of
opportunity” where food and nutrition intervention can address nutrition
vulnerability in the fetal, infant and young child’s life.
When we talk about fetal life, it is the pregnancy
status of the would-be mother that needs special attention.
Rise in teen pregnancy should be nipped in the bud,
calling action from multi-agency and multi-lateral sectors concerned with
social and youth welfare, education, health, nutrition, population, and civil
society organizations.
Starting from the womb, countdown to the first 1000
days starts and ends just before the child turns three years.
For more information on DOST-FNRI’s researches,
contact Dr. Mario V. Capanzana, Director, Food and Nutrition Research
Institute, Department of Science and Technology, General Santos Avenue,
Bicutan, Taguig City: Telephone/Fax Nos:
837-2934 or 837-3164; Direct Line: 839-1839; DOST Trunk Line: 837-2071-82 local 2296 or 2284; email:
mvc@fnri.dost.gov.ph or at mar_v_c@yahoo.com; DOST-FNRI website at
http://www.fnri.dost.gov.ph. Like our
Facebook page at facebook.com/FNRI.DOST or follow our Twitter account at
twitter.com/FNRI DOST. (DOST-FNRI
S&T Media Service/PIA-Caraga)
Only 1 in every 10 Filipino meal planners read
nutrition facts
By Charina A. Javier
MANILA, Mar. 22 - A recent nationwide survey done
by the Department of Science and Technology’s Food and Nutrition Research
Institute (DOST-FNRI) in 2015 showed that only 10.0 percent or 1 in every 10
household’s meal planners read nutrition facts among those who read food
product labels.
The proportion was lower than in a 2013 FNRI survey
which showed that 12.7 percent of meal planners who read product labels
reported reading nutrition facts.
Product labels serve as guide to consumers in
choosing which product to buy, ensuring safety in consumption of such items.
Under the Revised Rules and Regulations governing the Labeling of Prepacked
Food Products under the Department of Health (DOH) Administrative Order No.
2014-0030, the mandatory label information include product name or name of the
food, use of brand name and/or trademark, complete list of ingredients, net
contents and drained weights, name and address of manufacturer, repacker, packer,
importer, trader, and distributor, and lot identification.
Likewise, nutrition labeling is a system of
describing products on the nutritional properties of the food. It aims to
provide accurate nutrition information about each food which is printed in food
labels as nutrition facts.
The 2015 FNRI survey showed that 90.2 percent of
meal planners reported buying food products or beverages with labels. The most
commonly bought packed food or beverage items with labels were coffee and tea
(70.7%), cereals and products (69.3%), spices and condiments (50.8%), milk and
products (43.7%) and meat and other animal products (42.2%).
Date of expiration (80.8%) was the most common
information checked by meal planners who read product labels. This was followed
by brand name (23.0%) and ingredients (20.1%). A few reported checking the cost
(14.8%) and nutrition facts (10.0%) in the product labels.
Calories per serving, total fat and cholesterol
were the nutrition information usually read among those who reported reading
nutrition facts. Likewise, 57.1 percent of meal planners who read nutrition
facts said it always influences them in buying products, while 35.3 percent
reported it only influences them sometimes.
Higher proportions of meal planners always reading
food product labels were found among those who reached higher education levels,
younger adults, living in urban residences and belonging to higher wealth
quintile groups.
These results need to be considered in the pending
proposal of mandatory nutrition labeling in the Philippines. Consumers must
practice reading product labels always and learn to understand the information
in the nutrition facts correctly.
For more information on food and nutrition,
contact: Dr. Mario V. Capanzana,
Director, Food and Nutrition Research Institute, Department of Science and
Technology, General Santos Avenue, Bicutan, Taguig City; Telephone/ Fax Nos:
837-2934 or 837-3164; Direct Line:839-1839; DOST Trunk Line: 837-2071-82 local
2296 or 2284; e-mail: mvc@fnri.dost.gov.ph or at mar_v_c@yahoo.com; FNRI-DOST
website: http://www.fnri.dost.gov.ph.
Like our Facebook page at facebook.com/FNRI.DOST or follow our Twitter
account at twitter.com/FNRI_DOST. (DOST-FNRI S&T Media Service/PIA-Caraga)
Caraga MSMEs undergo biz operations management
training, consultancy
By Gabrielle Espinosa
BUTUAN CITY, Mar. 22 (PIA) - Forty-five (45) Micro,
Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) all over the region went through a
comprehensive training and consultancy on Business Operations Management on
March 15-17 this city, as part of the Manufacturing Productivity Extension
Program (MPEX) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) – a program
that assists MSMEs in the manufacturing sector to attain and sustain higher
productivity.
The training intended to review how the business is
run and how to control the labor force. It primarily focused on the factors to
consider in diagnosing a business. According to Engr. Andre Paolo Lim, chief
MPEX consultant in Caraga, there are 13 factors to consider when analyzing the
status of a business’s operations management – Administrative and Personnel
Management, Marketing Activity, Research and Development, Packaging, Financial
Management, Production Layout, Production System, Materials Management, Waste
Management, Machineries and Equipment, Materials Handling, Housekeeping,
Sanitation and Safety.
“We make business to earn money and increase
manufacturing productivity. An MSME should always put in mind that good
business always works and operates for profit. These factors should regularly
be checked as it will always affect profit,” he emphasized. Engr. Lim and his
team of consultants from the Summit Consultancy and Research Services is DOST
Caraga’s partner in promoting manufacturing productivity in the region.
DOST concentrates more on the aspect of Research and
Development for the MSMEs through the updating of relevant operation and
production technologies, relevant product offerings, product differentiation
and the development of other relevant business components.
The consultants carried out a one-on-one consultation
with the MSMEs in the assessment of how their business is managed. Summit
consultancy also provided detailed recommendations in all aspects of the
Operational Management.
Prior to the training, the consultants made an
on-site visit to the firms for a baseline study on how these firms operate
their business on the ground. The consultancy also served as a progress
monitoring report – an updating of how these MSMEs by-far achieved effective
operations management.
Aside from its MPEX Program, DOST also provides
technological services to MSMEs through its Small Enterprise Technology
Upgrading Program (SETUP), Microbiological, Physical and Chemical Analysis,
Packaging and Labelling Service, Nutrifacts Analysis and Shelf-life Analysis. (DOST-Caraga/PIA-Caraga)
