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Monday, December 4, 2017
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THAT INCIDENCE of malnutrition in Western Visayas is on the downtrend is encouraging. But this should not lead to the complacency of concerned government agencies. Many children still suffer from malnutrition in the provinces of Antique and Negros Occidental, according to the National Nutrition Council.
Malnutrition is related to hunger and poverty mostly in rural areas. The government must strengthen programs that address these. During the Senate hearing for the proposed 2018 budget, the Office of the Vice President (OVP) presented a program that could address these concerns. This program shows it is possible to uplift the lives of poor farmers by addressing the nutritional needs of children. Under the OVP’s nutrition program, small farmers plant the requirements for feeding programs in schools and communities. It is a convergence program with the Department of Agrarian Reform, Department of Agriculture and Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
According to Vice President Leni Robredo, the program is successful in increasing the income of small farmers. In her district in Naga, the average income of small farmers increased from P1,800 a month to between P6,000 to P8,000 a month. In this program, small farmers provide the nutritional needs of schoolchildren by planting what is required by DSWD as advised by the National Nutrition Council.
This is a good example of inclusive growth — the government addresses the needs of one sector, our schoolchildren, through the support of another sector, our small farmers who also benefit through improved income. We hope this could be replicated in all parts of the country, especially in areas with high malnutrition incidence. The OVP program should be supported by the whole bureaucracy.
There is also a proposal to make mandatory the child nutrition program in all public elementary schools and barangay day care centers. Based on the Food and Nutrition Research Institute data, the country’s chronic malnutrition rate increased from 30.3 percent in 2013 to 33.5 percent in 2015. Moreover, a study by the international organization Save The Children showed that one in three Filipino children suffers from stunting.
Poor nutrition remains a huge problem arising primarily from inadequate food intake. But undernourishment is largely preventable especially with early and effective interventions. The institutionalization of a child nutrition program should include complementary feeding, micronutrient supplementation, weighing and growth monitoring, deworming of children, and promotion of improved hygiene practices.
There must be a serious effort to tackle hunger and malnutrition among our school-aged children especially at the grassroots level.
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