DepEd urges private firms to donate weighing scales

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Education (DepEd) yesterday called on private firms to help the government fight malnutrition among Filipino school children by donating weighing scales.

Education Secretary Armin Luistro said public elementary schools need weighing scales in conducting nutritional assessment of students.

“Conducting nutritional assessments is an important aspect of fighting malnutrition in our schools,” Luistro said.

“Once we have the weighing scales, we can help schools get started on the nutritional assessments,” he said.

DepEd said students are weighed at the start of the feeding program, then after every two months, and again at the end of the program.

The weight-for-age indicator (the weight of a child compared with values of weight for a specific age) is used for children below six years old, while the weight-for-height indicator or body mass index is used for children from age 6 to 19.

In 2010, Luistro said there were only 3,747 schools with weighing scales out of the total 38,659 elementary schools nationwide.

He said DepEd needs to have at least one beam balance weight scale in every school.

Luistro said the data from these nutritional assessments will guide them in the implementation of the agency’s feeding programs.

“It will help us map out priority areas. This will also help us in providing support for other similar activities, such as deworming and putting up community gardens,” he added.

In school year 2012-2013, about two million schoolchildren were classified as “wasted” or undernourished, according to the DepEd.

Luistro said providing school children with proper nutrition is essential to reducing absences and drop-out rates.

“Proper nutrition contributes to a child’s mental and physical development. A healthy, well-nourished and active child can concentrate on the task at hand and perform well in school activities,” he said.

Anti-obesity program

In contrast, a senior administration lawmaker is pushing for the mandatory inclusion of an anti-obesity program in the curricula of public and private pre-school, elementary and high schools to promote healthy lifestyle among Filipino children.

Las Piñas City Rep. Mark Villar called for the immediate passage of the Anti-Obesity Education Program contained in his House Bill 4314 that seeks to provide “a definitive approach to physical education to arrest the increasing number of obese Filipino children.”

“Obesity has become a problem for our Filipino children. The deadly combination of eating calorie-rich foods and sedentary lifestyle due to advancement in technology is plaguing Filipino children. They tend to be less physically active as they spend more time in front of the television, watching movies or playing video games,” Villar said.

The problem must be addressed because obesity not only increases health risks but reduces life expectancy as well, he said.

“Potentially fatal conditions associated with obesity include Type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, cancers and gall bladder disease,” the lawmaker said.

He said by including the anti-obesity program in the curricula, the children would be educated on the benefits of leading a healthy lifestyle, which he said is an effective solution to obesity, along with exercise.

Under the bill, pre-school, kindergarten and elementary students shall have 200 minutes of physical activity for 10 days, while high school students shall have 30 minutes of physical activity daily.

They shall also receive instructions in healthy eating habits and good nutrition.

The physical education program for pre-school and kindergarten shall be designed to help children work and play with others, express themselves and learn to use and manage their bodies.

For elementary pupils, physical education shall include movement and body mechanics, fitness and rhythmic activities, increased cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength and sports and games.

For high school students, physical education shall include activities that increase cardiovascular endurance, muscle strength and flexibility and sports and games.

The school shall appoint a sports director to oversee the implementation of the program.

The school shall likewise create, maintain and develop necessary and suitable sport facilities and equipment for practicing and engaging in physical activities and sports.

Exempted from the mandatory anti-obesity program are students engaged in extracurricular activities sanctioned by the schools. – With Paolo Romero