St. Paul University Iloilo (SPUI) strongly supports four advocacies, namely, environmental stewardship, pro-life, peace education and social responsibility. With these advocacies, SPUI has made big changes not only in the Paulinian grounds but also in the entire Iloilo community. For example, the University actively participated in the Iloilo River Clean-up last June 29, 2013. For the month of July, St. Paul University Iloilo, spearheaded by the College of Hotel and Restaurant Management, Tourism, and Dietetics (CHRMTD) celebrated the Nutrition Month. The Paulinians of CHRMTD prepared exhibits and Friday activities for all Paulinians to be health-conscious, especially with what they eat.

The CHRMTD Paulinians will be holding the main event on August 1 and 2 when nutritional oriented programs and competitions will take place. The celebration is all about understanding fully the purpose of “Gutom at Malnutrition, Sama-sama Nating Wakasan,” which served as the theme of the month’s event.

As Associate Dean of CHRMTD, Dr. Christian Yau said, “We must be conscious with our food choices for this can greatly affect our body and as what others say, we are what we eat.” She also emphasizes the importance of eating more natural foods with more colors because of the nutrients we get in healthy food.

This academic year’s Nutrition Month celebration will be highlighted with different events prepared for all of you. There will be feeding programs for the children, fruit coloring program that can be participated by the grade-schoolers, the presence of kiosks and lastly, the Skills Competition that will be run by the College of HRM which Associate Dean Dr. Yau has said that is aimed towards honing the skills of CHRM students, especially in inventing new and healthy dishes that would help and fit the lifestyle of this generation.

For the past years, the Nutrition Month has been a way to decelerate the rapid increase of malnourished children. This was made firmer by the goal we want to achieve, which is to continue to strive against hunger and malnutrition. Moreover, with this yearly event, students would learn to prioritize the importance of eating healthful food and having a healthy conditioned body and mind.

Stephanie Hope Deslate