Following a recent survey in the Western Visayas region that revealed a worrisome figure, Representative Geraldine Roman of Bataan’s 1st District has urged the relevant agencies to address the issue of stunted and malnourished children in the area.
According to Roman, “Ang pagiging bansot o stunted ay hindi po natin dapat ipinagsasalawalang-bahala lamang. Lalo na kung dumarami at tumataas ang datos ng mga batang kabilang dito. Mariin po natin itong bibigyang pansin sa Kongreso.”
The Region VI-National Nutrition Council examined children aged 8 to 58 months, and based on the Ranking of Provinces-Prevalence of Stunting, it was found that Antique has the highest number of children whose height is not appropriate for their age.
Antique registered a prevalence rate of 9.83% stunted children, followed by Negros Occidental with 7.34%, Iloilo with 5.37%, Aklan with 4.87%, Guimaras with 4.84%, and Capiz with 4.49%.
“Karamihan sa mga batang ito ay talaga namang payat at maliliit. Ito rin ang pagsisimula ng bullying. Nabu-bully ang mga batang ito ng kanilang mga kaklase o kalaro sa community. So sa murang edad, apektado na sila agad ng inequality, and I strongly disagree on that.”, the Bataan solon added, who chairs of the Women And Gender Equality Committee of the House of Representatives.
In the Philippines, 1 in 3 Filipino children below 5 years of age is malnourished due to extreme poverty and lack of basic health education in parents.
The Republic Act (RA) No. 11037 s2018, known as the “Masustansyang Pagkain para sa Batang Pilipino Act” institutionalized the national feeding program and created a five-year plan to fully implement the school-based feeding program.
“Kaya po mariin din nating isinusulong through my House Bill 5601 also known as Magna Carta for Agricultural Workers and Revitalized Agricultural Value Chain of 2022, ang farm-to-market roadmap. Ito po ay mabisang paraang upang makarating agad ang produkto at serbisyong pang-agrikultura sa mga Kadiwa stores or better, diretso sa pamilyang Pilipino.” Congresswoman Roman further elaborated.
