Target pregnant women, postpartum women, breastfeeding women, and registered infants under 66 months... Eligibility criteria include residents in areas with nutritional risk factors such as anemia or low weight, with median income below 80%
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Jongno-gu (Mayor Kim Young-jong) operates the Nutrition Plus program for pregnant women and infants with nutritional problems, striving to improve their dietary management skills.
This program includes providing specific foods tailored to each target group to address malnutrition issues and conducting education to cultivate dietary management abilities.
The goal is to carefully manage residents' health from the fetal stage and guarantee the right to health throughout their entire life.
The targets are pregnant women, postpartum women, breastfeeding mothers, and infants under 66 months of age based on registration criteria.
Eligibility requires residence within the jurisdiction of the Jongno-gu Public Health Center (for multicultural families, at least one parent must be Korean) and an income level at or below 80% of the median income standard.
Additionally, the program is for residents who have one or more nutritional risk factors such as anemia, low body weight, growth retardation, or poor nutritional intake status.
Applications can be made by phone to Jongno-gu Nutrition Plus or by visiting the Wellness Center (89 Yulgok-ro), 1st floor Health Love Room, after confirming the health insurance premium personal burden (excluding long-term care insurance).
Required documents include a resident registration certificate, health insurance card, and insurance premium payment confirmation.
Selected participants attend nutrition education once a month and receive a food package beneficial to health, such as seaweed, chicken breast, gim (laver), and milk, at least once a month tailored to each participant.
The district decides whether to terminate or maintain eligibility based on a nutritional problem reassessment after six months of participation.
Nutrition education is operated with different monthly themes. Last year, support was provided for cooking sessions using the supplementary foods provided that month, as well as sticker activity sheets distributed in advance to help learn the importance of breakfast.
Furthermore, considering the COVID-19 situation, non-face-to-face education was conducted using Naver Band on topics such as pediatric constipation, meal management methods, and understanding carbohydrates correctly.
In addition, Jongno-gu also promotes the "Seoul Baby Health First Step Project" year-round for pregnant women and infants under two years old residing in the area.
This aims to build bonds between professional nurses and residents to enhance parenting capabilities, ultimately creating a community favorable for childbirth and child-rearing.
To this end, efforts are made to prevent family breakdown and child abuse through counseling via phone and video calls before and after childbirth, home visits, social worker linkage, and encouraging participation in mothers' self-help groups.
Kim Young-jong, Mayor of Jongno-gu, stated, “We are promoting the Nutrition Plus program to ensure healthy and balanced diets for pregnant women and infants,” adding, “We will protect residents' health based on providing customized nutritional supplements and operating education.”
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