NNC-7 hails P6B funding for kids’ feeding program

CEBU, Philippines — The National Nutrition Council in Central Visayas has welcomed the P6 billion funding for feeding program for school kids in 2021.

NNC-7 regional nutrition program coordinator Parolita Mission when sought for comments on recent pronouncement of Senator Grace Poe of the said funding said that the available funding support will ensure sustainability of the school feeding program.

“However, the achievement of the child’s full potential can be further assured if the country also invest in the six critical interventions in the First 1000 Days particularly dietary supplementation (feeding program) for pregnant women and children 6-23 months which remains wanting in most local governments,” Mission said.

Mission said that well-nourished children in the First 1000 Days are 10 times more likely to overcome the most life-threatening childhood diseases, complete 4.6 more grades in school, more likely as adults to have healthier families, and earn 21 percent more in wages as adults.

Poe said the school-based feeding program should reach every student beneficiary with guaranteed funding under the 2021 national budget.

Poe also welcomed the modification in the implementation of the school feeding law in the light of COVID-19 that prohibited face-to-face learning in schools.

The senator in a statement said that the distribution of hot meals to students will instead be replaced by ration of nutritious food products which the Department of Education said would be delivered to households or picked up by parents in schools.

The target beneficiaries will also now cover all incoming kindergarten learners and the Grade 1 to 6 students who were wasted and severely wasted based on the 2019-2020 School-Based Feeding Program report, except those who have moved to Grade 7.

“Good nutrition is unquestionably linked to a child’s growth and development. Nutritional intervention at a very early stage will give our children greater fighting chance to survive life-threatening diseases and enhance their physical, intellectual, social, emotional and moral development,” said Poe.

Poe championed the passage of the Republic Act 11037 or the “Masustansyang Pagkain para sa Batang Pilipino Act,” which aims to combat hunger and undernutrition among Filipino children.

Senator Risa Hontiveros on the other hand urged the Department of Budget and Management to increase the funds of Department of Social Welfare and Development to cover the nutrition of the additional 200,000 children projected to be included in its national feeding program under R.A. No. 11037.

Citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority that unemployment hit 7.3 million in June and will likely continue to rise, the DSWD has requested for an additional P1.36 billion for the feeding program.

But the senator said this was not approved by the DBM.

“Nakakalungkot man, asahan natin na aakyat pa ang mga numero na ito. Pag marami ang walang trabaho, marami rin ang magugutom. We have to adjust the budget accordingly,” she said.

Hontiveros also questioned why the DSWD budget for the feeding program had remained unchanged from 2020 despite the number of projected children who need to be covered increasing by 200,000.

She also highlighted that the DSWD only met 87.93 percent of its target in 2019.

“I want to understand the logic behind this. Hindi nga natin ma-meet yung 100% target natin, pero hindi natin bibigyan ng sapat na pondo ngayong dumami ang nangangailangang bata? Will we allow more children to be malnourished or will we compromise the quality of the nutrition we provide? Talo tayo kahit anuman ang sagot,” Hontiveros said in a statement.

Hontiveros said that UNICEF, as of August 2020, reported that a third of Filipino children are stunted, making the Philippines one of 10 countries with the highest number of stunted children in the world despite economic growth.

The World Health Organization defined stunting as the impaired growth and development that children experience because of poor nutrition, repeated infection, and inadequate opportunities to learn and play.

Mission said that children are considered stunted if their height-for-age is more than two standard deviations below the WHO Child Growth Standards median.

In the Philippines, there are high incidences of stunting among children under five, with levels remaining unchanged over the years, according to the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN) 2017-2022.

In Central Visayas, the numbers are at two out of five children below five years old are too short for age, according to the 2015 National Nutrition Survey.

It is for this reason that NNC highlighted stunting for this year’s Nutrition Month in July with a theme, “Batang Pinoy SANA TALL… Iwas Stunting, SAMA ALL!”

Mission further said that stunting has serious short-term and long-term consequences on children, affecting the process of health and human capital development. — GMR (FREEMAN)