In the recent senate hearing, they have observed that the food budget for malnourished children is smaller than those of the prisoners.
The senate plans to increase the food budget for malnourished children to P30 each because it has been observed that the P17 value meal for prisoners is higher compared to the P13 meal budget for malnourished and stunted children in the Philippines.
Senate minority leader Ralph Recto vows to increase the budget for feeding programs of DSWD and DepEd from a combined 7.62 billion pesos to 13. 89 billion pesos in the 2017 national budget.
In order for this to be materialize, DSWD and DepEd needs an additional 6.3 billion pesos.
According to Sen. Recto, if there are additional funds for the salaries of government employees, children should well be prioritized too.
Meanwhile, Vice President Leni Robredo reiterates that malnutrition is alarming and it has to be solved.
“The issue on malnutrtion and stunting is the more alarming one. According to a Save the Children report, the Philipines is one of the countries in the world that account for most of the global burden of malnutrition,” VP Robredo said.
“At present, there are millions of Filipino children who go through a day without eating. Since children who are stunted have poor physical and mental development, they are likely to become repeaters in school or drop out of school,” she added.
According to the Department of Health (DOH), there are continuous programs to strengthen the prevention of malnutrition in the country
“For those who are under 5 (years old), there is a growth monitoring chart and we inform parents the things they need to do if their children are stunted or malnourished. In DOH, we focus on the micronutrients, those who are deficient in vitamin A. The National Nutrition Council has a feeding program together with DWSD and DepEd,” said DOH Assistant Secretary, Dr. Eric Tayag. — Aiko Miguel | UNTV News & Rescue
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source: https://sg.news.yahoo.com/malnourished-filipino-children-receive-smaller-201918468.html
