MALNUTRITION IN BARANGAY KALUNASAN

The news article below that appeared in the July 12, 2007 issue of Cebu Daily News relayed that our adopted area, Barangay Kalunasan, was among the top five barangays in Cebu City with the most number of underweight pre-school children. With this, we expect UC-Nursing CESDEV to conduct more Nutrition and Feeding Outreach Activities in this area to alleviate this problem.

28% Ermita kids underfed Chris Ligan Cebu Daily News
July 12, 2007

Editor's Note: Published on page A1 of the
June 14, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer -->

CEBU, Philippines—Barangay Ermita ranks number one among the 80 barangays in Cebu City as having the most number of underweight pre-school children based on a survey for Operation Timbang of the City Health Department.

Health workers monitor the weight of children below six years old as an indicator of malnutrition.

Another 2006 government survey showed the prevalence of malnutrition in Central Visayas with Cebu ranked no. 2 among provinces with 11.82 percent and Talisay City ranked no. 2 among cities in the region.

The study by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) of the Department of Science and Technology was discussed in yesterday’s Kapihan sa PIA forum along with City Health Department findings.

The 2006 survey of Operation Timbang, which focuses on urban poor communities, showed barangay Ermita with 28.23 percent prevalence of underweight pre-school children out of 1,254 pre-school children weighed.

Ermita was followed by barangays Pahina San Nicolas (23.31 percent), T. Padilla (20.28 percent), Buhisan (19.11 percent) and Kalunasan (17.53 percent) in the top five of 28 barangays surveyed.

Cebu City Councilor Gerardo Carillo said he has yet to see the survey results, which he said raised a “health concern.”

“We admit there are many malnourished children in the city but we can say the city’s efforts are enough to address the situation,” he said.

Carillo, who oversees the city’s social welfare office, said the city has feeding programs and information drives for the parents as well as a database of all malnourished and overweight children down to the sitio level.

In Region 7, the FNRI survey showed that among provinces, Negros Oriental had the highest malnutrition rate at 12.71 percent, followed by Cebu (11.82 percent), Siquijor (11.8 percent) and Bohol (11.06 percent).

Among cities in the region, Bais City had the highest malnutrition rate at 14.73 percent. The no. 2 rank was held by Talisay City in Cebu (12.19 percent), followed by Canlaon City (11.80 percent), Cebu City (7.87 percent) and Dumaguete City (7.9 percent). Tanjay City-7.33; Tagbilaran City-6.61; Bayawan City – 6.25; Lapu-Lapu City – 3.61; Toledo City – 3.58; Danao City – 3.45 and Mandaue City – 3.15.

Dr. Paralita “Letlet” Mission, coordinator of the National Nutrition Council, said there were several factors in the problem of malnutrition: poverty, large family size, faulty eating habits and lack of nutrition education.

Some families can’t afford to eat three meals a day while others may have enough budget but make wrong diet choices.

Mission noted that some families frequently eat instant food, fast food dishes or oily food, which don’t promote good health.

She urged the public to practice “urban gardening” by planting vegetables in the backyard. Examples are nutrient-rich kamunggay and squash. The Nutrition Council has introduced a program for food for school children, targeting remote areas in Negros Oriental for their pilot.
Director Leo Rama of the Population Commission (POPCOM-7) said having big families was a factor in malnutrition. With more children o support, the tendency is for a poor family to have less to eat.

“Mopalit og one kilo of rice ang pamilya kon daghan sila , daghan sab ang magbahin sa ilang pagkaon,” Rama said.

National surveys from the FDRI shows that a significant number of Filipino children are undernourished as shown in kids who are underweight, too short or thin for their age, or anemic.
The usual food intake of these young children were “inadequate” in energy, iron, calcium and Vitamin A, particularly after 12 months of age when the habit of drinking milk has decreased.
A 2003 FDRI study indicated that 21 percent of Filipino children up to five years old experienced “food insecurity”, meaning they skipped a meal, did not eat for a day or went hungry.