|
Sunday, July 09, 2006
Malnutrition rate down; Mabinay still tops list
By Syril G. Repe
THE inland municipality of Mabinay continued to top the list of towns and cities in Negros Oriental with the highest malnutrition rate amid the gains in the fight to improve its child health record.
Dr. Bernarda Cortes, former assistant provincial health officer and now consultant of the provincial health office's malnutrition program, bared this during the recent Kapihan forum of the Philippine Information Agency at the Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital conference room Wednesday.
Cortes blamed child labor practice as the chief factor for the malnutrition rate, explaining that parents send their children to work in sugar plantations before going to school and without breakfast.
She said parents also refused to cooperate with the municipal health office.
"The kids are not able to eat breakfast since they go the sugar plantations to work before going to school," lamented Cortes.
Mabinay municipality has two rural health units -- Mabinay 1 and Mabinay 2.
Mabinay 1 registered a 22.4 percent malnutrition rate among all towns and cities last year. The figure for Mabinay 2 was not immediately available.
The figure for Mabinay 1 dropped as of July to 22.2 percent or a meager .2 percent while Mabinay 2 recorded 19.2 percent.
Meantime, the province's malnutrition rate is pegged at 11.3 percent as of July this year compared to last year's 14.1 percent. The 2004 figure was 18.9 percent.
Next to Mabinay, La Libertad registered 20.9 percent malnutrition rate followed by Vallehermoso with 19.6 percent. Jimalalud town at 3.3 percent has the lowest malnutrition rate in the province.
Records from the Integrated Provincial Health Office also show that Dumaguete City's malnutrition rate is 8.3 percent as of July this year.
Barangay Cadawinon recorded the highest malnutrition rate among the 30 barangays in Dumaguete City with 19.6 percent, followed by Camanjac with 18.10 percent, and Tabuc-tubig with 14.10 percent, said City Health Officer Dr. Ava Vios in the same forum. Bantayan has the lowest malnutrition rate at 0.40 percent.
Cortez attributes the significant improvement in the province's nutritional status to various nutrition programs such as the Gulayan at Palaisdaan Alay sa Kabataan (GPAK).
A total of 781 public schools throughout the province are participating in the GPAK program, explains Alvin Blaza, chief of the crops division at the Provincial Agriculture Office.
Governor George P. Arnaiz is set to allocate P1 million to buy assorted vegetable seeds for GPAK.
Another program geared towards vegetable production is the Barangay Agricultural Development center (BADC), which now has around 100 centers in Negros Oriental.
Under BADC, vegetable seeds are distributed to communities within the center areas.
Blaza stressed that programs aimed at food security such as GPAK and BADC are necessary since the province's rice production is not enough to meet the people's food requirements.
"If we depend solely on the province's rice production, it is not enough for the consumption needs of the province," he said.
He said that Negros Oriental only has around 12,000 hectares of rice areas and the province needs at least 17,000 hectares to become self-sufficient in rice production.
Blaza assured that the province could cope up with its food requirements because of rice imports.
According to Cortez, the governor has augmented the province's school-based nutrition programs this year with two new programs, namely the National Expanded Preschool Supplemental Feeding Program for Day Care Children and the Nutrition Supplementation for Grade 1 students under the ECCD program.
Arnaiz has also launched the Gatasan sa Barangay Himsog Katawhan program, which helps put up dairy farms here.
Cortez is confident that with the new nutrition programs, the province's malnutrition rate will continue to drop in the coming years.
(July 9, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
|
[return to top]
[home]
[network page]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
|
