ILOILO – The nutrition status of children in this province is improving, according to the Provincial Health Office (PHO).
In 2018 the prevalence of undernutrition was at 3.27 percent (6,235 underweight children) – down from 2017’s 3.79 percent (9,500 underweight children).
Local government units were addressing their respective undernutrition problems, said PHO’s Dr. Maria Socorro Colmenares Quiñon.
The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund defines “undernutrition” as the outcome of insufficient food intake (hunger) and repeated infectious diseases.
Undernutrition includes being underweight for one’s age, too short for one’s age (stunted), dangerously thin (wasted), and deficient in vitamins and minerals (micronutrient malnutrition). The term “malnutrition”, on the other hand, is a broad term commonly used as an alternative to undernutrition but technically it also refers to overnutrition – to the current epidemic of obesity and related diseases, such as diabetes, in both the industrialized and developing worlds.
According to Quiñon, the province in 2018 bagged a “green banner” (regional level) from the Department of Health (DOH) and National Nutrition Council (NCC) for a commendable implementation of the Local Nutrition Action Plan via a partnership with the Department of Social Welfare and Development for supplementary feeding of children in daycare centers.
PHO also encouraged mothers to practice exclusive breastfeeding of infants and serve children only with nutritious meals.
Meanwhile, the municipality of Pototan had the highest prevalence of under-nutrition in 2018 among this province’s 42 municipalities and one component city, data from the PHO showed.
Of Pototan’s 4,902 children from zero to 59 months old that were weighed, 663 (13.53 percent) were found to be underweight.
Next to Pototan were Batad (6.72 percent), Carles (6.39 percent), Alimodian (5.63 percent), and Calinog (4.94 percent).
On the other hand, five municipalities with very low undernutrition prevalence were Pavia
(0.05 percent), Igbaras (0.57 percent), Barotac Nuevo (0.59 percent), Miag-ao (0.66 percent), and Tigbauan (0.87 percent)./PN
