To address the issue of hunger and malnutrition among schoolchildren in the Philippines, Department of Social Welfare and Development, through its Supplementary Feeding Program, has allocated P1,560.00 per child for 120 feeding days.

Supplementary Feeding Program is the provision of food, in addition to regular meals, to the child-beneficiaries — two to four years old children enrolled in Supervised Neighborhood play groups; three to four years old children enrolled in Child Development Centers (CDC); and five years old children not enrolled in the DepED Preschool — of the program.

This is part of DSWD’s contribution to the Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) program of the government.

The additional hot meal a day is composed of  rice and meat/fish/vegetables prepared by the parents organized as Day Care Service Parent Group, with the supervision of day care workers and Municipal Social Welfare and Development  Officers (MSWDOs).

The child-beneficiaries will be weighed at the start of the feeding program and three months thereafter. After the completion of 120 feeding days, the improvement in their nutritional status will be determined.

 

Combat in MiMaRoPa

            Philippines, according to United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), is the 9th country in the world with the most number of stunted children.

In the Philippines, MiMaRoPa region, composed of provinces of Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan, has the highest underweight and wasting prevalence (Anthropomoteric Survey of Food and Nutrition Research Insitute Departmet of Science and Technology).

About 3 in every 10 (or 27.5%) Filipino preschool children, 0-5 years old, in MiMaRoPa were underweight for their age while one (1) in every 10 or (9.8%) Filipino preschool children was underweight for their height (or wasted).

In order to combat the prevalence of underweight, wasted, overweight and stunted children in MiMaRoPa, DSWD launched SFP in the said region last 2011.

After the implementation of SFP, the overall nutritional status of preschool children in MiMaRoPa has improved.

From 2011 to 2013, the prevalence of underweight preschool children decreased in the provinces of Marinduque (from 21.1% to 14.1%)  and Romblon (from 30.6% to 11.2%).  On the other hand, prevalence of stunting preschool children in MiMaRoPa decreased by 1.6 percentage points while prevalence of wasting children decreased by 0.7 percentage point from 2011 to 2013.

A Worthy Investment

SFP is a worthy investment for the future of children. The extensive school feeding program shows various benefits to the community, parents, teachers, and most specially to children.

As for the community, the overall number of malnutrition decreased.

“Noong 2008 po, wala pang SFP, marami po talagang malnourish dito. Pero bumaba po ito noong nagka-SFP na,” said Analyn M. Tome, Day Care worker of Romblon Romblon.

In addition, it bolsters school enrolment and attendance.

“Nakatulong din po sa daycare worker dahil minsan po ay konti po ang pumapasok sa daycare center, dahil sa SFP po dumarami po,” said Ma. Lourdes M. Fajarda, Municipal Social Welfare and Development Officer-in-Charge of Romblon Romblon.

Moreover, SFP heigtens awareness about hygiene and nutritional education. Parents learned how to prepare and cook luscious and healthy meals.

“Yung iba talagang kapos sa pagkain at hindi talaga nakakain ng nutritious food. Sa pamamagitan po ng programa, ang mga magulang po ay natututong magluto ng masasarap at masustansyang pagkain sa murang halaga dahil po sa mga binibigay na cycle menu natin,” explained Fajarda.

SFP also helped parents to lessen their expenses and aided them to prepare budget meals.

“Na-lessen ang malnutrition at saka ang budget po namin ay kapos kaya malaking tulong po talaga. Nabawasan gastos namin!” explained Mae Ann Vallente,  parent of SFP child-beneficiary.

            Children, on the other hand, learned how to eat healthy meals specially vegetables. Their overall physical and mental health have also improved. Also, through socialization during the feeding program, the interpersonal and people skills of children have greatly developed.

“Malaking tulong ang SFP, dahil po ‘pag nasa bahay ang anak namin, mahinang kumain, pero kapag nasa maraming tao natuto po syang kumain ng gulay. Nagaya po siya sa mga kaklase nya” added Vallente.

Good practices such as washing of hands, praying, cleaning the dishes and brushing of teeth were also instilled to children because of SFP.

Challenges of the Program

While SFP has been successful for some years now, there are still challenges that program faces specially on its effectiveness and efficiency.

Several factors responsible for this are: lack of political commitment and financial support; inadequate coverage of the population in need of services; deficiencies in the supply and distribution of supplements at health centres; the cultural and health beliefs of providers and recipients; inadequate training of providers; inadequate education of recipients; the colour and other characteristics of the supplements; undesirable side effects; and low compliance.

However, these challenges will not cease the program in fighting hunger and malnutrition.

Collective Effort

In order to sustain and ensure the effective implementation of the program and to cope up with its challenges, DSWD is strengthening its coordination with the Local Government Unit and other concerned government agencies such as Department of Education (DepEd) and Department of Health (DOH).

Also, participation of parents and day care workers is heightened in order to meet the objectives of the program which are: (1) provide augmentation support for feeding program for children in day care centers using indigenous food or locally produced food equivalent o 1/3 of Recommended Energy and Nutrient Intake (RENI); (2) improve the knowledge, attitude and practices of children, parents and caregivers through intensified nutrition and health education; (3) and improve and/or sustain the nutritional status of the target beneficiaries.

Through their collective effort, they will win the combat against hunger and malnutrition.

By nourishing the body, we nourish the spark of life within the body of these children. Feed the body, nourish the soul! ###