Section 6. Definition of Terms.— For purposes of this Act, the following terms are defined as follows:

1. Breastmilk Substitute refers to any type of milk, in either liquid or powdered form, including soy milk and follow-up formula, that are specifically marketed for feeding infants and young children up to the age of three (3) years;

2. Chronic Energy Deficiency (CED), or acute under nutrition, refers to a condition where there is negative energy balance due to inadequate food and nutrient intake, problems in absorption, relatively rare or excessive nutrient loss mostly due to infections and malignancies;

3. Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) refer to non-State actors whose aims are neither to generate profits nor to seek governing power, such as nongovernment organizations (NGOs), professional associations, foundations, independent research institutes, community-based organizations (CBOs), faith-based organizations, people’s organizations, social movements, networks, coalitions, and labor unions, which are organized based on ethical, cultural, scientific, religious or philanthropic considerations;

4. Early Stimulation refers to the process where infants and young children receive external stimuli to interact with others and their environment. It provides different opportunities for the child to explore, develop skills and abilities in a natural way and understand what is happening around them. Examples of early stimulation are language, motor and sensory stimulation with the aim of optimizing their cognitive, physical, emotional and social abilities, to avoid undesired states in development;

5. First one thousand (1,000) days of life refers to the period of a child’s life, spanning the nine (9) months in the womb starting from conception to the first twenty-four (24) months of life, which is considered to be the critical window of opportunity to promote health and development and prevent malnutrition and its life-long consequences;

6. Geographically Isolated and Disadvantaged Areas (GIDA) refer to areas that are isolated due to distance or geographical isolation, weather conditions and lack of modes of transportation. This also refers to unserved and underserved communities and other areas identified to have access or service delivery problems, high incidence of poverty, presence of vulnerable sector, communities in or recovering from situation of crisis or armed conflict, and those recognized as such by a government body;

7. Low birth weight refers to weight at birth of an infant, whether born full term or preterm, of less than 2,500 grams or 5.5 pounds, or 5 pounds and 8 ounces;

8. Malnutrition refers to deficiencies, excesses or imbalances in a person’s intake of protein, energy (carbohydrates and fats) and/or nutrients covering both undernutrition which includes suboptimal breastfeeding, stunting, wasting or thinness, underweight and micronutrient deficiencies or insufficiencies, as well as overnutrition, which includes overweight and obesity;

9. Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM) refers to low weight-for-length/height, defined as between two (2) and three (3) Standard Deviations (SD) below the median (<-2 up to -3 SD) of the WHO growth standards or a Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) measurement of less than one hundred twenty-five millimeters (<125mm) and greater than or equal to one hundred fifteen millimeters (≥115mm);

10. Nutrition-sensitive interventions and programs refer to interventions or programs that address the underlying determinants of maternal, fetal, infant and child nutrition and development, such as those pertaining to food security, social protection, adequate caregiving resources at the maternal, household and community levels; and access to health services and a safe and hygienic environment, and incorporate specific nutrition goals and actions. Nutrition-sensitive programs can serve as delivery platforms for nutrition-specific interventions, potentially increasing their scale, coverage, and effectiveness;

11. Nutrition-specific interventions and programs refer to interventions or programs that address the immediate determinants of maternal, fetal, infant- and child nutrition and development, adequate food and nutrient intake, feeding, caregiving and parenting practices, and low burden of infectious diseases;

12. Nutritionally-at-risk pregnant women refers to pregnant women, including teenage mothers, with a low pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) or those who do not gain sufficient weight during pregnancy, with any of the following predisposing factors: narrowly-spaced pregnancies and births, situated in families with low income, with large number of dependents where food purchase is an economic problem, has previously given birth to a preterm or low birth weight infant, or other unfavorable prognostic factors, such as obesity or anemia, with diseases which influence nutritional status such as diabetes, tuberculosis, drug addiction, alcoholism and mental disorder;

13. Overweight and obesity refer to the abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that may impair health. It is measured by BMI, a simple index of weight-for-height, which is commonly used to classify overweight and obesity among adults. BMI is calculated by dividing a person’s weight in kilograms by the square of his/her height in meters (kg/m²). According to the WHO, adults with a BMI greater than or equal to twenty-five (25) are overweight and a BMI greater than or equal to thirty (30) is obese. For children, it is defined as the percentage of children aged zero (0) to fifty-nine (59) months whose weight for length/height is above two (2) SD (overweight) or above three (3) SD (obese) from the median of the WHO Child Growth Standards;

14. Responsive caregiving refers to the method where the caregiver pays prompt and close attention with affection to what the child is signaling and then provides a response that is appropriate to the child’s immediate behavior, needs and developmental state;

15. Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) refers to very low weight for length/height, defined as less than three (3) SD below the median (<-3SD) of the WHO Growth Standards, characterized by visible severe wasting, or by the presence of bipedal pitting edema, or a MUAC measurement of less than one hundred fifteen millimeters (<115mm); and

16. Stunting refers to chronic under nutrition during the most critical periods of growth and development in early life. It is defined as the percentage of children aged zero (0) to fifty-nine (59) months whose height for age is below minus two (2) SD (moderate stunting) and minus three (3) SD (severe stunting) from the median of the WHO Child Growth Standards.