The Negros Oriental Provincial Health Office will be feeding malnourished pregnant mothers for three months, in a campaign to address stunted growth among babies, a health official said on Tuesday.
PHO chief Dr. Liland Estacion told the media that the current stunted growth rate of children in the Province is 10.8 percent.
“While this is not as high as the national percentage, it is still high for Negros Oriental, and we need to bring it down below the 10 percent average,” Estacion said.
The country’s average rate of stunted children is 30 percent.
Stunting, defined as low height-for-age, is a result of chronic or recurrent undernutrition, according to the World Health Organization. It said that stunting prevents children from reaching their physical and cognitive potential.
Dr. Estacion said that three barangays have been identified with a total of 55 pregnant mothers who will receive the food aid.
The recipients will be provided one meal a day (lunch), with the food to be prepared by local nutrition and health workers in line with the Pinggang Pinoy program.
The PHO chief noted that many pregnant mothers do not practice proper diet while carrying a baby in their womb. She lamented that even as the child is still in the womb, it could develop nutritional problems that contribute to stunting after birth.
A budget of P500,000 has been allocated for the first provincial government-initiated feeding program for pregnant mothers that will take place early next month, Estacion said.
Bivalent vaccines
Meanwhile, the coronavirus disease 2019 bivalent vaccines for Negros Oriental have been exhausted as of this month, Estacion said.
The Department of Health allotment for the Province was only 1,800 doses, and all have been administered to different sectors across the Province.
Estacion said she hopes DOH-7 is set to provide additional allocation for Negros Oriental. (Judy F. Partlow/PNA)
