Pregnant Women and Infants Residing in Yangcheon-gu Eligible to Apply if Monthly Household Income is Below 80% of Median Income
[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Yangcheon-gu (Mayor Kim Soo-young) Public Health Center is recruiting participants for the ‘2021 Nutrition Plus Project’ for the health of pregnant women and infants throughout the year.
The project targets pregnant women (expectant mothers, postpartum mothers, breastfeeding mothers) and infants (under 66 months by registration standard) residing in Yangcheon-gu who have one or more nutritional risk factors such as anemia, underweight, growth retardation, or poor nutritional intake status, and whose monthly average household income is 80% or less of the median income standard.
Required application documents include a resident registration certificate, health insurance premium payment confirmation, and health insurance qualification certificate (health insurance card). Additionally, relevant applicants should submit a maternity record book, family relation certificate, beneficiary certificate, etc.
Applicants first submit their applications to the Public Health Center, then bring the required documents on their individually reserved date to visit the Yangcheon-gu Public Health Center or the Maternal and Child Health Promotion Center, where detailed guidance will be provided.
Especially this year, due to COVID-19, a non-face-to-face method has been introduced, allowing submission of application documents online or via FAX. Nutritional risk factor assessments for each participant will be operated by reservation to minimize personal contact.
Selected participants will receive nutrition education and counseling, supplementary food support, and regular nutritional evaluations. Customized nutrition support includes food packages composed according to developmental stages delivered to each household, and nutritional evaluations are conducted every six months to monitor changes in nutritional risk factors and nutritional status.
The Public Health Center plans to carefully evaluate and manage whether participants’ nutritional status and dietary management abilities have improved.
Also, participants can attend nutrition education sessions at least once a month. Since last year, due to COVID-19, online education through blog operation and non-face-to-face nutrition education via telephone counseling have been provided.
To overcome the limitations of online education, which may have low participation rates, the Public Health Center held quiz events during the education sessions and delivered nutrition kits produced by the center to 89 people in 59 households who won.
As a result of these various efforts, Yangcheon-gu Public Health Center’s Nutrition Plus Project was introduced as an ‘Excellent Case of Healthy Food Supply and Support in the COVID-19 Era’ at the ‘Seoul Urban Food International Conference 2020,’ enhancing Yangcheon-gu’s international status.
Kim Soo-young, Mayor of Yangcheon-gu, stated, "We will continue to support Nutrition Plus services according to the COVID-19 situation, encourage participation in nutrition education through high-quality nutrition education and events, and do our best to promote the health of pregnant women and infants with imbalanced nutritional status."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
