Veggie-based feeding pushed

CEBU, Philippines —  The Cebu City Council has encouraged the Department of Social Welfare Services (DSWS) to incorporate a plant-based diet to the ongoing Supplemental Feeding Program (SFP) in daycare centers.

Councilor Alvin Dizon, author of the measure, seeks to include plant-sourced food in the SFP, saying it will be “beneficial for the children’s health and the planet.”

Dizon said that the present SFP administered by DSWS in collaboration with the parents’ organization is a crucial platform to help address malnutrition, stunting, overweight, and obesity among the young children.

It can be recalled that Republic Act No. 11037 or the Masustansiyang Pagkain para sa Batang Pilipino Act was passed last year to fight hunger and undernutrition among Filipino children.

Under such law, the SFP for daycare children is identified as one of the components and coverage of the National Feeding Program implemented by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in coordination with the local government unit concerned, specifically for undernourished children with ages three to five years.

According to the 2018 Expanded National Nutrition Survey, “the prevalence of stunting in the country remains high and doubles at one year of age and overweight prevalence among children under 5 years old increased from 3.9 percent in 2015 to 4.0 percent in 2018.

“But of greater concern is the rising prevalence of overweight and obesity among school-age children, from 8.6 percent to 11.7 percent.”

As per the World Health Organization, overweight and obese children have greater chances of staying obese into adulthood and are more prone to develop Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) like diabetes and cardiovascular diseases at a younger age.

It was also found that in the Philippines, NCDs are now the leading killers, compromising of 50 percent of all the deaths each year.

Dizon said that to help spare the Filipino children, integrating a healthy lifestyle, by starting from being particular in the food the children consume, would be a great help to combat the diseases.

In his resolution, Dizon suggests that malunggay, alugbati, and galay (camote tops) are among the famous, healthy, accessible and affordable vegetables that can be incorporated into the feeding program.

He said among the many benefits of plant-based diet are better weight management, lower risk of heart disease, and diabetes prevention.

The resolution encourages the DSWS and the parents’ organization to prioritize these three vegetables in their meal planning and preparation.

In a statement, DSWD-7 said it currently implements the Cycle 9 of Supplementary Feeding Program.

The program aims to improve and sustain the nutritional status of the children in various LGU-managed Day Care Centers/Supervised Neighborhood Play (SNP) areas and communities.

SFP-served children are weighed at the onset of the feeding and 60 days thereafter and after the completion of 120 feeding days to determine improvement and sustenance in their nutritional status.  KQD (FREEMAN)