Over 100,000 kids in EV malnourished, OPT results show

Leyte Samar Daily Express

TACLOBAN CITY- Eastern Visayas has at least 100,965 malnourished children representing 17.94% of the total number of preschoolers weighed in 2009, result of the local government unit’s Operation Timbang (OPT) revealed.

National Nutrition Council (NNC) regional nutrition program coordinator Carina Z. Santiago said that Samar province posted the highest malnutrition prevalence in 2009 at 26.24%, slightly up than the 26.03% malnutrition rate a year before.

Santiago explained that Northern Samar, which has been the most nutritionally depressed province in the past years, has improved its percentage of underweight children from 26.32% in 2008 to 23.62% in 2009.

Following Samar and Northern Samar in the rank with high malnutrition rate are the provinces of Leyte (17.98%), Biliran (17.26%), and Eastern Samar (15.74%), and Southern Leyte (9.25%).

In Samar province, authorities initially identified the towns of Basey, San Jorge and Matuguinao as the most nutritionally depressed areas.

Among the cities in the region, Catbalogan in Samar posted the highest malnutrition rate at 21.27%, Baybay in Leyte (20%), Calbayog in Samar (17.18%), Ormoc in Leyte (15.25), Tacloban in Leyte (10.77%), Borongan in Eastern Samar (10.46%), and Maasin in Southern Leyte (7.51%).

“Almost all cities and provinces have improved. The region’s malnutrition prevalence from 19% in 2008 to nearly 18% last year is a good indication,” Santiago said in a meeting with nutrition action officers this week.

However, the 2009 figure is still below the 16% malnutrition rate target for the year.

Of the 562,782 children weighed in 2009, about 450,000 children were normal and 11,251 were above normal, the report said.

The data was obtained through the annual OPT conducted by municipal and barangay nutrition and health workers. Covered in the OPT were children below six years old. Based on projections, the region has 714,332 preschoolers.

Poor implementation of government programs in the local area results to low family income, big family size, and insufficient food supply resulting to malnutrition.

To achieve reduction, the Regional Nutrition Committee set goals to improve nutritional status of Eastern Visayas ’ population which is through improved food and nutrition knowledge, attitudes and practices of families; and improved diets and home food production activities among households.

Malnutrition is a condition of the body resulting from lack or excess of one or more important nutrients. It is also a condition in which an individual cannot perform well at such things as physical work, physical growth, and resisting or recovering from sickness.

According to Santiago, the most common malnutrition problems among children in Eastern Visayas are protein-energy malnutrition, iron deficiency anemia, iodine deficiency disorders and vitamin A deficiency. (Sarwell Q. Meniano)