In view of the progress made in Yucatán in the actions against malnutrition and obesity in the child and youth population promoted by Governor Mauricio Vila Dosal, representatives of the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) highlighted the state as an example to follow at a national level in this matter.
(Punto Medio).- In a work meeting with state government officials, led by the head of the General Secretariat of Government (SGG), María Fritz Sierra, visitors from the international organization highlighted the coordinated actions in food and nutritional security developed by the agencies to improve the expectations and quality of life of children and adolescents.
Yucatan is an example of nutritional policy for all of Mexico, said Luis Fernando Carrera Castro, Unicef representative in the country, pointing out that the entity has a very clear strategy in this regard, “since it has undertaken very important legislative and regulatory reforms, and now, they are reaping the fruits of investment in institutionality”.
“They have a Nutrition and Fight against Obesity Law, from which emanates a State Council that has very clear objectives and an institutional interaction that does not exist elsewhere,” he said before the heads of the Ministries of Health (SSY), Mauricio Sauri Vivas; Education (Segey), Liborio Vidal Aguilar, and Technical Planning and Evaluation (Seplan), Jorge Luis Avilés Lizama.
During the meeting, aimed at reviewing the progress of the programs on this topic, it was agreed to continue strengthening this collaboration with Unicef, for the promotion of good practices with a focus on behavioral change and transformation of food environments.
In the presence of Fiorella Espinosa, Nutrition Officer of Unicef Mexico, Fritz Sierra acknowledged that child malnutrition and obesity is a lacerating reality that affects society, therefore she referred that in Yucatan there is a cross-cutting policy focused on ensuring the comprehensive care and welfare of early childhood.
“Undoubtedly, it is a priority issue for all governments and in our state we are not only concerned about it as a government, but we are working to reverse this situation,” she stressed, after indicating that part of the strategy is to join efforts and strengthen this alliance with Unicef.
After thanking the Fund for its support, he highlighted the joint institutional efforts for this purpose and the importance of promoting breastfeeding, to which the authorities present responded that more breastfeeding centers will be opened in their offices. “Our commitment, as a government, is for early childhood and, therefore, we strengthen our strategic alliance with Unicef in nutritional education,” she said.
For his part, in this meeting held in the SGG’s meeting room, Mauro Brero, Unicef Mexico’s head of nutrition, recalled that health and nutrition prevention services were hit hard during the pandemic, but in Yucatan they maintained their attention to the vulnerable population through the deployment of mobile units throughout the territory.
He also praised the Zero Hunger initiative to improve the quality of life of the people who need it most, attend to their needs and promote both the variety and quantity of food, so that low-income families eat what they should.
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