86T kids get extra meals from DSWD

CEBU, Philippines - A total of 86,912 children from Cebu Province out of over 120,000 children across Central Visayas are being eyed as beneficiaries of the Supplementary Feeding Program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development-7.

The agency's feeding program, which was established in 2011, is aimed at improving and sustaining the nutritional status of the selected children to fight off malnutrition by augmenting the government's Early Childhood Care and Development Program.

DSWD-7 Director Ma. Evelyn Macapobre said the program is targeting children aged two to five years old who are attending supervised neighborhood playgroups or enrolled at public day-care centers.

She explained that the beneficiaries will be weighed before the feeding starts and until the next 60 days using the measuring tools, which cost some P16 million, purchased by the agency and distributed to selected health centers of the local government units.

The children beneficiaries will again be weighed after completing the 120 feeding days to determine whether their nutritional status has improved and to assess if the food supplementation has met or exceeded the nutritional needs of the children.

A total of 121,419 children region-wide had been identified by DSWD-7 to benefit from the feeding program, said DSWD-7 information officer Phoebe Jen Indino.

She specified that Cebu Province has the most number of beneficiaries with at least 86,912 followed by Bohol province with 32,052 and Siquijor with 2,455.

The Supplemental Feeding Program is one of the agency's programs that provide food, in addition to the regular meals in a day, to be served during snack time or meal time to children five days a week (or during weekdays) for 120 days.

Indino said DSWD allocated P222,519,000 for Central Visayas for school year 2016 to 2017.

Of the total funds, at least P152,437,560 was transferred to the different local government units in the region that was intended for viands. The remaining funds were transferred to the National Food Authority-7 for the rice requirement.

Indino explained that the LGUs will be the one to procure the viand while the NFA-7 will deliver the rice. The parents of the children will also play a part in preparing the food while the local social welfare officers will help facilitate the feeding program.

"The feeding program will be managed by the parents based on a prepared meal cycle using available indigenous food supplies in the area," she said. (FREEMAN)