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Poe urges gov't to address malnutrition, hunger in children, too
Poe urges gov't to address malnutrition, hunger in children, too
Senator Grace Poe on Wednesday, June 23, called on the government's hunger task force to ramp up its efforts in addressing hunger and malnutrition among poor Filipino children, especially amid the pandemic.
In a statement appealing to the Inter-agency Task Force on Zero Hunger, Poe said the country needs a "focused, community-based approach" to respond to the problem, "led and backed by the whole of government."
“Hunger is a reality in this pandemic and children in poorer families are worse off. With the soaring prices of pork, chicken and fish, malnutrition in children is a certainty unless we work now to stave it off,” the senator said.
“Amid the government vowing to keep the economy afloat and make it rebound, there hasn’t been enough attention on the impact of the pandemic on poor children and their nutrition,” she also lamented.
Poe said challenges in the distribution of cash subsidies and the lack of adequate sources of livelihood during the lockdowns last year affected the most vulnerable population, including poor children.
A study recently released by the World Bank on the Philippine economy said that "COVID-19 pandemic-related shocks, including hunger incidences, have manifested in higher levels of child malnutrition, especially among the poor".
In another report on undernutrition in the country, the World Bank identified poverty as one of the most important causes of undernutrition, with 42.4 percent or about four of 10 children in poor households stunted.
It said that "for nearly 30 years, there have been almost no improvement of undernutrution in the Philippines."
The World Bank said the "effective delivery" of social protection programs, including cash transfers, can help alleviate hunger.
“Children in poor families need all the help we all can give. Attending to their nutrition and growth must be our collaborative commitment,” she appealed.
Poe, one of the authors of the "Masustansiyang Pagkain para sa Batang Pilipino" Act, previously proposed to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Department of Education (DepEd) to take cue from community pantries and set up "food pantries" to implement its feeding programs.