Baguio: The Department of Education in Baguio is targeting 9,011 elementary school learners for its school-based feeding program to address malnutrition, a division official said.
According to Philippines News Agency, Cynthia Cadawan, a nurse at the DepEd-Baguio Schools Division Office, stated that the beneficiaries include all kindergarten and Grade 1 learners identified as needing dietary supplementation, as well as severely wasted and wasted learners in Grades 2 to 6. Most of the beneficiaries are in kindergarten and Grade 1, while others are from Grades 2 to 6 and the secondary level, as reported to the Baguio City Nutrition Committee.
The feeding program is set to run in two phases over a total of 180 to 200 days. The initial 21 days will focus on milk provision, followed by 89 days featuring hot meals and nutritious food products. The remaining days will utilize a cycle menu of nutritious food products. Although the implementation faced delays this school year due to class cancellations and suspensions caused by inclement weather, it is expected to commence soon, as mentioned in the report.
Baguio City currently has 30,744 public elementary learners. Nutrition assessments revealed 403 severely wasted, 903 wasted, 2,304 overweight, 758 obese, 380 severely stunted, and 2,239 stunted learners. Among 26,525 assessed secondary learners, 271 were severely wasted, 964 wasted, 1,301 overweight, 198 obese, 331 severely stunted, and 2,178 stunted.
Dr. Soraya Faculo, Baguio SDO superintendent, highlighted that the feeding program is a part of the Department of Education's Oplan Kalusugan sa Department of Education, or OK sa DepEd, a convergence program encompassing health and nutrition initiatives for public school learners. The program is executed in partnership with local health units, including the Department of Health-Cordillera Administrative Region, the city's health services office, and other stakeholders.
Faculo explained that OK sa DepEd also addresses mental health, water, sanitation and hygiene in schools, deworming, adolescent reproductive health, and medical, dental, and nursing services. The school-based feeding program specifically targets wasting, characterized by low weight for height, and stunting, which is a result of chronic or recurrent undernutrition leading to low height for age.
The program undergoes quarterly implementation reviews, including validation and monitoring by participating schools, with results utilized to guide school health planning and support.
