CEBU CITY, Philippines — Optimistic in steadily reducing malnutrition prevalence, an official from the Region 7 office of the National Nutrition Council (NNC) is encouraging households to venture into backyard gardening especially those having malnourished children.

“We urge parents especially those having malnourished children to have backyard gardens where they can plant nutritious vegetables for their kids. This will also benefit them economically,” said Parolita Mission, executive director of NNC7.

Mission stressed that having backyard gardens do not necessarily need huge spaces as there are vegetable plants that survives in pot like tomatoes, cucumber among others.

She added that even in urban areas backyard gardening is very possible which will also make every family food secured.

The NNC7 top official explained that if only each family has backyard gardens, food security and crisis will no longer be a big problem as food is readily available.

It can be recalled that the NNC has also partnered with the Department of Agriculture for an urban backyard gardening program where the latter will provide seeds to interested families.

Meanwhile, as lung cancer continues to be one of the leading causes of mortality among Filipinos, killing over 15,000 citizens every year, the Region 7 office of the Department of Education (DepEd) has renewed its warning to students and teachers not to smoke inside their school zone.

DepEd 7 Regional Director Recaredo Borgonia said every school, whether private or public, is mandated to ban smoking in line with the implementation of Republic Act 9211 otherwise known as the Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003.

The law provides that smoking shall be absolutely prohibited in centers of youth activity such as play schools, preparatory schools, elementary schools, high schools, colleges and universities, youth hostels, and recreational facilities for persons under 18 years old.

“The department will not hesitate to sanction those who will be caught smoking inside school premises; violators will be suspended or expelled,” he said.

Borgonia emphasized that each school should be a healthy place for all students.

Earlier, Dr. Juditha Tawatao, health program coordinator for the Stop Smoking Program, said they have been visiting various schools in the region to promote their campaign, especially with the rise of young smokers.

“We have noted an increase in the number of young adults or even children who are already exposed to smoking, which is why we have been visiting various schools in the region to discourage students on the harmful effects of smoking in the body,” she said.

DoH7 data showed that most of the people diagnosed with lung cancer are smokers while records revealed that over 17,000 new cases are diagnosed every year.

Meanwhile, the dream of being the first 100 percent smoke-free province in the Philippines is slowly coming true for Negros Oriental as more local government units (LGUs) here are adopting the smoke-free ordinance as provided for by RA 9211.

Three LGUs are set to launch their smoke-free ordinances this month.

The province's capital city, Dumaguete, will launch its ordinance on July 15 while the town of Bindoy will do the same on July 13, and Jimalalud on July 14.

Amlan, the town that successfully pioneered the ordinance's adoption, will mark their second year of implementation of the smoke-free law on July 15.

The LGUs of Zamboanguita, Mabinay, Ayungon, Tanjay City and Canlaon City have already conducted public hearings on the ordinance, while Guihulngan City is about to hold a first reading. (With a report from PIA)