With data showing a rising number of families experiencing involuntary hunger, and with the country’s population expected to grow by 1.9 million this year, the government is now moving to provide food assistance for the most vulnerable groups in the country: malnourished children aged 6 months to 23 months old and nutritionally-at-risk pregnant women.
This according to Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, who over the weekend expounded on a new anti-hunger initiative recently approved by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).
“Aside from these, we also plan to distribute other food products like micronutrient growth mix and fresh produce sourced from small farmers.”
Nograles, co-Chair of the IATF and head of the government’s Task Force Zero Hunger, said that in IATF Resolution Number 76, the IATF announced its support for a dietary supplementary program for children 6 to 23 months old and nutritionally-at-risk pregnant women.
Speaking in Filipino, the Palace official said that “the program involves the house to house distribution of nutritious food products––food packs produced by the DOST-FNRI (Department of Science and Technology – Food and Nutrition Research Institute) such as nutribuns, iron fortified rice, instant laing, and instant pochero.”
“Aside from these, we also plan to distribute other food products like micronutrient growth mix and fresh produce sourced from small farmers; this way, not only do we provide much-needed food assistance, we also help provide income for our farmers.”
Nograles explained that the government is targeting children 6 to 23 months old and nutritionally-at-risk pregnant women as experts have stressed the importance of providing adequate nutrition in the first 1,000 days of a child, from conception until the 23rd month.
Data showing that a third of Filipino children suffer from stunting––the most obvious sign of malnutrition––highlight the need to target this age group, added Nograles, as the pandemic may exacerbate the problem.
“The effects of inadequate nutrition at this stage is long-term, as this is when rapid brain development happens.”
Stunting is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the “impaired growth and development that children experience from poor nutrition, repeated infection, and inadequate psychosocial stimulation.” Children are considered stunted, per the WHO, “if their height-for-age is more than two standard deviations below the WHO Child Growth Standards median.”
“The effects of inadequate nutrition at this stage is long-term, as this is when rapid brain development happens. Scientists point out that when a child does not get enough nutrition at this point, brain development is hindered,” lamented Nograles.
The former legislator from Davao pointed out that “this is irreversible and, if not addressed, this is manifested in the future of the child and is reflected in poor school performance and being sickly.”
“This underperformance can carry over to work, make the person unproductive, and hinder the chances of doing well; under these circumstances, the cycle of poverty remains unbroken.”
Nograles said the program is consistent with Republic Act 11148, or the “Kalusugan at Nutrition ng Mag-Nanay Act” or “The First 1,000 Days Law.” The measure was signed into law by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on Nov. 29, 2018. Nograles was one of the principal authors of the measure in the House of Representatives.
The law seeks to scale up the national and local health and nutrition programs through a strengthened integrated strategy for maternal, neonatal, child health and nutrition in the first 1,000 days of life.