Online hunger, malnutrition map launched

Multinational food giant Nestle spearheaded the launch of the United for Healthier Kids (U4HK) portal, an online site showing the location of the seven million children in the Philippines who are suffering from hunger and malnutrition.

With the launch, the www.u4hk.ph website now features a malnutrition heat map that shows the severity of the problem in the Philippines, as Nestle and its partners in the U4HK advocacy intensify their call to action for Filipinos to do something to address the problem.

With the Philippines enjoying a strong economic growth with the second highest GDP (gross domestic product) in Asia, it seemed to ignore the problem of widespread hunger and malnutrition among millions of children, Jacques Reber, chairman and CEO of Nestle Philippines, said.

The launch of the malnutrition heat map highlights the problem to remind the country about the continuing hunger and malnutrition being suffered by millions of children.

The U4HK portal is a repository site designed to inspire and move young Filipinos to share, donate or volunteer for programs of non-government organizations addressing malnutrition in different communities throughout the country.

“For the Philippines to combat malnutrition and achieve its full potential, we need to adopt a more systemic approach to reducing hunger and malnutrition. We need to bring together organizations with expertise in various subjects, from access to food, nutrition education, water, sanitation, and hygiene, to nutrition in disaster. We need to harness the energy and ideas of young people, who have demonstrated their will and capacity to shape the Philippines into a country whose people are able to lead prosperous and healthy lives,” Reber said.

Reber said he and his family had learned of child hunger and malnutrition early in his assignment as head of Nestle in the Philippines. He shared that his children, moved by the alarming situation, had challenged him as head of a huge food conglomerate, on what he can do to make a difference.

With the U4HK, Reber said he hoped that by the end of his service here in the Philippines, he can look his children in the eye and tell them “probably I haven’t done much, but I tried hard, I tried hard to help those kids to have a future, a future like you.”

Sen. Grace Poe, who was the guest of honor during the launch Wednesday night, commended Nestle for spearheading the U4HK campaign.

“I heartily commend Nestle for doing this,” Poe said in her keynote speech.

In the Senate, Poe was leading a move to institutionalize free lunch for millions of school children going to public elementary and high schools.

Through Senate Bill 160 she hoped to address the problem of widespread hunger and malnutrition, as well as low child participation and attendance in schools.

The challenge of SB 160 was finding the fund for the program, which she said would need a staggering P40 billion.

However, Poe pledged her determination to steer the bill into passage into law, as she raised the need for the huge investment on Filipino children.