Yucatan will host the pilot test of the National Behavior Change Program (PC2) in Food, focused on seven population groups, as part of the actions carried out by Governor Mauricio Vila Dosal to promote a healthy life among the population, through the System for the Integral Development of the Family (DIF).
Leticia Mena Macossay, head of Community Development and Food at the unit, explained that, in coordination with the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), the National DIF System (SNDIF), the Ministry of Health (SSY) and the Center National Preventive Programs and Disease Control (Cenaprece), began the development of a plan, which will be replicated in other states.
For his part, Mauro Brero, head of Nutrition at Unicef Mexico, stressed that choosing Yucatan as the venue for this pilot test was due to the fact that it is the only state in the country that provides an articulated response on the issue, through the Law on Nutrition and Combating Obesity, from which a Council emerged, which promotes strategies to modify habits of infants, teenagers and those who care for them.
He added that this plan is expected to be applied in the state, at the end of this year, to reinforce the work already done in the matter, with a specific budget, activities, and results in indicators, focused on seven groups: pregnant women; caregivers of infants from 0 to 24 months, girls and boys from two to five years, and from six to 11; teenagers; adults and older people.
In a first phase, work was done to obtain information to explore, test and adjust solutions to changes in behavior in order to replicate them in other parts of the country, through mass communication campaigns and the strengthening of legal instruments on the matter, he detailed.
The workshop “Design of solutions” was given to more than 80 representatives of different dependencies, academia, health personnel, basic education teachers and traditional midwives, with the purpose of establishing bases in the design of an intervention on changes in habits, with a systems approach, regarding healthy eating in Yucatan.
César Prieto, supervisor of the Home Doctor program of the Social Development Secretariat (Sedesol) and one of the course participants, said that his experience was very enriching, as it allowed him to identify the problems he currently faces and promote appropriate behaviors , through the development of public policies that generate a greater impact among citizens.
Similarly, Vanessa Gamboa Gonzalez, from the Ko’ox Taani Foundation, highlighted that the experience was interesting, due to its innovative methodology, which provided significant learning on how to operate. “They gave us ideas that we can apply in our daily work with people, such as in communities, clinics, schools, etc.,” she said.
Finally, it should be remembered that, through this alliance, at the beginning of the present, 55 nutritionists were trained, from 49 municipal DIF and 75 state DIF, with the aim of training professionals capable of planning, designing and implementing communication strategies, as an effective form.
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