DSWD to feed 198,360 children in WV
THE Department of Social Welfare and Development will be feeding a total of 198,360 pre-schoolers enrolled in day care centers in Western Visayas.
Records of DSWD6 showed that the beneficiaries include children in Negros Occidental numbering to 76,842; Iloilo, 62.645; Antique, 21,724; Capiz, 18,486; Aklan, 14,015; and Guimaras, 4,649.
“We do not just want to improve nutritional status of those who are underweight but we also want to curb hunger,” said Salvacion Gayoma, Nutritionist and Dietecian.
This is under the implementation of the Supplementary Feeding program, which is the provision of food, in addition to the regular meals, to currently enrolled day care center children.
It comes in the form of hot meals, as recommended by Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) , and served during break time to children in day care centers.
Beneficiaries of the program are three-year-old and four-year-old children; and those five-year-old children not catered in the Department of Education but enrolled in day care.
“The government will be investing more than P300 million for the program this year,” said Gayoma.
This program is implemented in response to the 2006 Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES) conducted by the National Statistics Office which showed that 11 percent of Filipino families had income that cannot buy the food needed by family members for nutritional well-being and health. These families can be considered as hungry and food poor.
Along with Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, KALAHI-CIDSS or Kapit Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services and Sustainable Livelihood Program, Supplementary Feeding seeks to achieve Millennium Development Goal no. 1, which is eradicating extreme poverty and hunger.
The feeding program also aims to provide augmentation support through feeding program for children in day care centers.
Also, it aims to improve knowledge, attitude and practices of children enrolled in day care centers, parents and caregivers through intensified nutrition and health education. In the same manner, it targets to improve and sustain the nutritional status of all target children and refer to health units medical and nutrition-related problems of children./dswd/May Grecia-Rago