Saturday, August 18, 2007 Cebu City shells out P1.76M to feed malnourished kids
AT LEAST 2,400 malnourished children in 10 Cebu City barangays will be given protein-rich food as part of a supplemental feeding program next month.
This will come after the citywide deworming of children.
The City Council approved last Wednesday the P1,765,500 budget to cover the meals of the malnourished children for 30 days.
Because of limited funds, however, the City will only provide one meal a day for children from the top 10 barangays with the highest number of malnourished kids.
Each meal will cost P25 per child and will consist mainly of food items that are high in protein content, including rice and anchovies.
Rising rate
Councilor Christopher Alix, head of the Cebu City Nutrition Council, proposed the feeding program to the council after noting an increase in the number of malnutrition cases in the city.
At least 477 children were identified to have “very low” weight for their age, while 1,877 others were found to have “low” weight.
The nutrition council has identified Barangays T. Padilla, Ermita, Alaska in Mambaling, Cogon-Pardo, Inayawan, Sawang Calero, Kalunasan, Kamagayan, Mabini and Pung-ol Sibugay with the highest of malnutrition cases.
Alix admitted the 30-day feeding program will not solve the malnutrition problem, but they expect the parents of the children to follow through and sustain what the City Government will start.
“We’re hoping to do something that will help end the malnutrition problem in the barangays and I think it’s better than doing nothing at all. The parents should also do something and should see to it that their children are eating nutritious food,” he told Sun.Star Cebu.
The council approved the charging of the P1.77 million needed for the program to the City’s Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. funds, which the mayor already endorsed.
Change in habit
In a phone interview yesterday, Alix advised the mothers to instill healthy eating habits in the family.
He said that based on their informal studies, one of the factors that contribute to malnutrition is the parents’ practice of buying food from eateries, instead of cooking it themselves.
“The problem calls for a change of habit among the parents. They no longer cook the food for their children and they usually buy cooked food that are not nutritious,” Alix lamented.
So intervention programs for malnutrition will be focused on the 10 barangays, the nutrition council will meet with various civic groups and nongovernment organizations to avoid duplication of feeding activities.
The council will start with the feeding program next month, which will complement the simultaneous deworming of all public elementary and high school students in the city. (LCR)
