Tuesday, April 01, 2008
2,700 children 'to get priority' in Cebu City's malnutrition drive
By Linette C. Ramos
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
WITH a limited number of health workers in the barangays, the Cebu City Government’s nutrition program will focus on the city’s 2,700 severely malnourished children before expanding to the grassroots.
City Councilor Christopher Alix said yesterday they are about to end the three-month feeding program for the 2,700 children and will soon feed the thousands of other malnourished kids in the city, as identified by the barangay health workers and nutrition scholars.
Alix confirmed they now have the nutrition education and food security program designed by former Cebu City mayor Florentino Solon, but they lack health workers to implement it.
In his news conference yesterday, Vice Mayor Michael Rama said the City Health Department’s (CHD) campaign against dengue is not an excuse to take the nutrition program for granted.
Dr. Solon earlier said he has turned over to the CHD the nutrition program that he designed but when he made a follow-up on its implementation, he was told the health workers are focusing on the dengue problem.
“Being busy with dengue is not an excuse. You have to find time for everything. Dengue, measles and malnutrition should be given equal importance,” Rama said.
Alix said that Solon’s program involves the training of all nutrition scholars and health workers in organizing households down to the sitio level and teaching them how to prevent malnutrition.
Solon, executive director of the Nutrition Center of the Philippines, recommends that all communities ensure food security and the nutrition of the children through organic gardening.
Mothers, he said, should also be trained to prepare food fortified with vitamins and other nutrients.
He suggested assigning one nutrition scholar or health worker to a group of 10 households to make sure the parents are properly trained.
Alix said they would have to train all barangay health workers and nutrition scholars so they can immediately implement Dr. Solon’s recommendations.
“We have not been able to do that in all the barangays because the health workers are also involved in other activities of the CHD. For nutrition, we need manpower because they have to monitor the weight of each child. We are already doing that with the 2,700 children and we will soon deal with other malnourished children,” he told Sun.Star Cebu.
The councilor explained that they prioritized the severely malnourished children to avoid damage to their brain. As it is, the growth of these children is already stunted.
Children suffering from severe malnutrition are currently being fed by the City three times a day for three months.
Last October, the City Council approved the use of P3.1 million for supplemental feeding programs in 10 barangays with the highest incidence of malnutrition among children.
A state of calamity was declared in Barangays T. Padilla, Sawang Calero, Kalunasan, Mambaling, Ermita, Pahina San Nicolas, Tejero, Inayawan, Pahina Central and Mabini for the high incidence of malnutrition there.
Two months before that, the council approved a budget of P1.8 million to feed 2,400 malnourished children with protein-rich food as part of a supplemental feeding program.
Of the 2,400, at least 477 children were identified to have “very low” weight for their age, while 1,877 others were found to have “low” weight.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (April 31, 2008 issue)
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