The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) is considering including children in their first 1,000 days in the government’s cash grant beneficiaries to avoid stunting and other nutrition issues.

NEDA Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan told reporters that the cash benefit from the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) currently targets children studying in school.

“The 4Ps program, it only targets schooling children - elementary and high school - but this time, we will include the first 1,000 days because that's where the highest big problems in malnutrition, stunting,” Balisacan said at the sidelines of the launching of the National AI Strategy Roadmap 2.0.

The NEDA chief stated that this cash aid parameter is favored for children as it will help them avoid the effects of nutrition issues at an early age, which cannot mostly be resolved in the latter years of their lives.

Under Republic Act No. 11310, which institutionalizes the 4Ps, the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) shall conduct an impact assessment every three years to evaluate the effectiveness of the 4Ps and the veracity of the list of household beneficiaries.

It also indicated that the PIDS should recommend to the National Advisory Council whether the cash grants should be adjusted according to inflation every six years.

The current scheme only includes children in daycare and elementary, junior high school, and senior high school programs.

A PIDS study found that one in three Filipino children is stunted due to severe underinvestment and inadequate access to high-quality childcare services.

It reported that around 14 percent of Filipino women of reproductive age are undernourished, noting that malnourished mothers are more likely to give birth to infants with low birth weights, resulting in short-term and long-term consequences.

The study also cited the low investments in early childhood care and development.

"Findings also suggest that the government allocates only PHP 3,870 per child for health, significantly below the average government spending per person on health in lower-middle-income countries, which is 150 USD," it added.