TACLOBAN CITY – The Borongan City Health Office reported a decrease in the number of stunted children from February to May this year during the launching of the Nutrition Month celebration in the city on Tuesday, July 8.
From 72 moderately wasted children in February, it decreased to 26 in May. From 16 severely wasted children in February, only two remain in May.
City Nutrition Action Officer Jassie Acla stressed the need for a collaborative effort against malnutrition in the city.
"Let us change our perception. Malnutrition is not just a problem of the Nutrition Office, the City Health Office, and City Social Welfare and Development Office, but the whole city government," she said.
Records showed that 15.46 percent of children under five-years-old in Eastern Samar are stunted in 2022.
In Eastern Visayas, the National Nutrition Council said that at least 63,655 children under five-years-old are stunted based from the 2022 monitoring reports from local government units.
According to the World Health Organization, stunted children refers to a child who is too thin for his or her height and is the result of recent rapid weight loss or the failure to gain weight.