Addressing undernutrition, hunger

Christian May B. Utulo

THE Department of Education (DepEd) is seeking to address undernutrition and short-term hunger among public school children through the School-Based Feeding Program (SBFP).

A program will be implemented where all schools are asked to establish and maintain the Gulayan sa Paaralan Program (GPP) as a source of ingredients for the SBFP and encourage the families of beneficiaries to have their own home garden for the continuous nutritional improvement at home.

SBFP aims to improve the nutritional status of “severely wasted” and “wasted” learners from Kinder to Grade 6 by at least 70% at the end of its 120 feeding days. The program also aspires to boost classroom attendance by 85%, and improve children’s health, nutritional values and behavior.

Several undertakings in Schools and Divisions have been done to address malnutrition among school children.

Incidentally, there are activities in schools like massive planting of vegetables and fruit-bearing tress, deworming, school feeding programs, height and weight assessment of all public elementary pupils and secondary students, and lesson integration.

As adults, because we play an important role in the lives of our students in making "healthy" decisions, especially when it comes to their nutrition. Eating the right kinds of food is imperative to a child's learning process.

Children also need to live in a balanced world, as their lives do not only revolve around academics. They must be able to thrive in the world they live in. Being healthy, however, does not only mean eating right, but there must also be physical activity involved.

While studying is important, so is having fun with friends. Let's teach them to be focused not only on academics, but in all aspects of learning, so that they can easily reach their goals by delving into areas where they can harness their potentials.

Let’s teach them to practice a healthy lifestyle, while also enjoying simple pleasures.

The author is Secondary School Teacher III at Becuran High School