The Department of Education (DepEd) recognized the Mandaluyong Schools Division Office (SDO) and the Addition Hills Integrated School (AHIS) for their exemplary implementation of the agency's School-Based Feeding Program (SBFP) aimed at curbing malnutrition among students.
Mandaluyong Mayor Ben Abalos, together with SDO superintendent Dr. Romela Cruz and AHIS School Principal I Joseph Alegre, received the award following DepEd's Regional Search for the Most Outstanding School-Based Feeding Program Implementers for School Year 2023-2024.
The feeding program is projected to provide nutritionally balanced meals or food products for the entire academic year or 220 days, plus milk for 55 days, to “severely wasted and wasted” children from Kinder to Grade 6.
“Wasted” children are those who are underweight for their age.
On July 17, Mandaluyong launched its newest social program aimed at providing the Mandaleño youth with the necessary food and nutrients they need in growing up.
Under the "Oplan Dagdag-Timbang Balik Sigla Program," undernourished children of the city will be enrolled in the supplementary feeding program of the local government for six months with the primary purpose of increasing their weight, ensuring that they receive the necessary nutrients their body needs, and boosting their resistance against diseases.
The program is in line with the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN) launched in September last year by the National Nutrition Council (NNC) under the Department of Health (DOH).
PPAN is a comprehensive blueprint designed to guide government agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academia, and the private sector in their coordinated efforts to reduce all forms of malnutrition.
The NNC said the new PPAN sets directions for food and nutrition policies and strategies intended for various stakeholders and duty-bearers from the government, NGOs, development partners, academe, the private sector, and local government units, and focuses primarily on addressing all forms of malnutrition with particular attention to stunting and wasting, overweight and obesity, poor infant and young child feeding practices, and micronutrient deficiencies.