Quito, February 8, 2023
With the support of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Government of Ecuador continues in the fight against malnutrition in the first thousand days of life through the development of Dietary Guidelines Based on Food Systems ( GABSA).
The GABSA are a scientifically based educational tool that guides the population to consume natural, local and healthy foods to maintain an optimal state of health. The focus of the GABSA is on the first thousand days of life, which refer to the period from the moment of conception to the child’s 2 years of age, a fundamental stage for the ideal development of a human being.
The Ministry of Public Health (MSP) and the member ministries of the Inter-institutional Steering Committee of Ecuadorian Dietary Guidelines, with the cooperation of FAO, began the process of preparing these guides, this within the framework of the national strategy for the fight against malnutrition in the country
Eve Crowley, ai representative of FAO Ecuador, highlighted that in the country the prevalence of overweight in children under five years of age is above the world averages and it has the second highest rate of stunting in the Latin American region and the Caribbean, after Guatemala, according to the Panorama of Food and Nutrition Security 2022 report.
In this sense, he emphasized the importance of the GABSA as a tool for the fight against malnutrition. It is crucial to make visible the importance of food and health care during this period in both the mother and her son or daughter.
Manuel Mancheno, Undersecretary for Promotion, Intercultural Health and Equality, thanked FAO for its support in the preparation of the GABSA, as it will reinforce the Ecuador Grows Without Child Malnutrition Strategy to mitigate chronic child malnutrition that affects Ecuadorian boys and girls.
The meeting was attended by professionals from the government, civil society, academia and international cooperation to begin the process of building the most appropriate messages that promote healthy eating practices with cultural relevance. The articulated work of the National Technical Board is essential to promote intersectoral public policies that influence the fight against this problem in Ecuador.
The GABSA for the first thousand days of Ecuador will be available to the population from the second semester of 2023.
