Food for thought on Nutrition Month

Now, here’s a mouthful: Nutrition Month kicks off this week, as per Presidential Decree 491 or the Nutrition Act of the Philippines. The 39th Nutrition Month celebration carries this urgent message: Gutom at malnutrisyon, sama-sama nating wakasan (Hunger and malnutrition, let us end them together)!

This year’s celebration zeroes in on hunger, described as “a condition in which people do not get enough food to provide the nutrients for fully productive, active and healthy lives (FAO).”

To go deeper into this absorbing issue, prolonged hunger can lead to malnutrition and even death.

Children who experience chronic hunger are deprived of the essential proteins, micronutrients, and fatty acids that they need to grow up properly — physically and mentally. Hunger also affects children’s ability to learn at an early age — and pursue their dreams when they grow up.

On the other hand, freedom from hunger means food security, which happens when ”all people, at all times, have physical, social, and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious food which meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.”

According to the National Nutrition Council Technical Committee, hunger deprives people of a basic fundamental right — the right to food. “Second, there is also the need to fast track actions to reduce hunger to meet the first Millennium Development Goal on eradicating extreme poverty and hunger. Third, hunger incidence in the Philippines has worsened in recent years, affecting more Filipino families. And fourth, addressing hunger contributes to national growth and development.”

The Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES), done by the National Statistics Office every three years,  revealed that food poverty or subsistence incidence was estimated at 10.0 percent in the first semester of 2012. This figure has not significantly changed from the first half of 2009 at 10.0 percent and 10.8 percent in the first half of 2006. 


More findings: The 2008 National Nutrition Surveys showed that 28.6% of mothers/caregivers experienced food insecurity. 72.7% of households suffered food insecurity — they were afraid food might run out before they would have the money to buy more, or the food they bought would not be enough and they would not have enough money to get more. 


More, the survey described how people coped with food insecurity, thus: by skipping meals; borrowing money and food from relatives, friends, and 
neighbors; buying food on credit; adults eating less frequently; reducing portion sizes; shifting to less expensive foods like root crops, corn, banana; skipping school; working abroad.

To achieve its first goal of eliminating extreme poverty and hunger, the Millennium Development Goals aims to: reduce by half the prevalence of underweight-for-age under-five from 27.3% in 1990 to 13.7% in 2015; reduce by half the percentage of households with inadequate energy intake from 74.2% in 1993 to 37.1 % in 2015. 


The Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition 2011- 2016 has set the following targets:

• Reduce the percentage of households with inadequate calorie intake from 66.7% in 2008 to 32.8% in 2016.

• Reduce the prevalence of underweight under-five children from 20.6% in 2008 to 12.7% in 2016.

So, what government policies and programs are in place to address the problems of hunger and malnutrition in the country today?

The Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition. aims to reduce hunger and malnutrition through the implementation of priority actions: promote desirable infant and young child feeding; micronutrient program (food fortification and 
micronutrient supplementation); home, school, and community food production; integrated management of severe and acute 
malnutrition; supplementary feeding for pregnant women and six to 23-month-old children; nutrition education; livelihood programs; sanitary toilet facilities; safe drinking water supply; promotion of desirable nutrition and healthy lifestyle behaviors; nutrition in disaster and risk reduction management; nutrition-sensitive agriculture and development programs; Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino Program (4Ps); Agrikulturang Pilipino or Agri-Pinoy.

Now, this pressing question: What should we do to reduce hunger and malnutrition — right here and right now?

• Ensure food security, that everyone has access to enough nutritious food all year long. That people are able to buy it, grow it, or get it through a safety net mechanism.

• Prevent child undernutrition by ensuring proper nutrition in the first 1,000 days of life. Breastfeed babies exclusively from birth up to six months, then give appropriate complementary food while continuing breastfeeding up to two years and beyond.

• Develop sustainable food systems that will provide food for the people, preserve the environment, and are resilient to the changing climate.

• Increase smallholder farmers’ productivity and income while creating decent employment. Support local farmers by buying locally-grown foods.

• Prevent food wastage. Cook and eat just enough food to avoid food wastage. Wasted food means wasted water, soil, energy, and effort.

• Establish home, community, and school vegetable gardens; raise poultry, small animals or fish both for home consumption and for selling to augment household income. Consume indigenous vegetables.

•. Support feeding programs in the community, particularly for pregnant women.

• Be informed. Know, practice, and spread the gospel of good nutrition.