NNC-7 lauds provincial government’s  feeding program

CEBU, Philippines — The top official of the National Nutrition Council-7 lauded the plan of the Cebu provincial government of a province-wide feeding program

NNC-7 regional nutrition program coordinator, Dr. Parolita Mission, said that this province-wide feeding program is a good initiative of Governor Gwen Garcia to feed the learners enrolled in public schools.

“This program will help address hunger experienced by children, especially those coming from food-insecure households,” Mission said.

According to Sugbo News, the official Facebook page of the Cebu provincial government, that the province-wide feeding program is slated to start on November 15, 2023 in all public schools in Cebu, catering to over 878,000 students from Kindergarten to Grade 12.

This was the agreement reached by the governor and key stakeholders in a recent meeting in preparation for the Capitol’s “free lugaw” (porridge) feeding initiative for all learners in public schools of the province.

Unlike other programs that only feed students who are gravely undernourished or malnourished, the governor wants the Capitol initiative to benefit all Cebuano learners in public schools regardless of their nutritional status classifications.

The feeding program will be done five times a week, from Monday to Friday until DepEd’s school year ends, as she wishes for no schoolchildren to go hungry while learning.

Mission, however, said that it is more ideal to feed pregnant women and children 6-23 months old to help reduce stunting (chronic malnutrition) in the province now at 10.5 percent or affecting 28,596 preschool children (based on the 2022 Operation Timbang Plus data).

She added that right nutrition and care of children in the first 1000 days (bet a woman’s pregnancy = 270 days, and her child’s 2nd birthday = 730 days) builds the foundation for optimum health and development and influence not only for the child’s survival but his/her ability to grow, learn and rise out of poverty.

Mission earlier said that the first 1000 days of a child is crucial in his/her mental and physical development and within this period, a child has to be nourished to prevent malnutrition and diseases which are contributory factors to poverty in the family.

“The first 1000 days of a child is considered as the first golden window of opportunity to address malnutrition and catch up the cognitive development of the child,” Mission further said. — (FREEMAN)