Feeding program brought to Dagupan children for 2nd year

SOME 300 severely malnourished public school children from 10 public elementary schools in Dagupan are benefiting from Pasiglahin ang Estudyanteng Pinoy (PEP) Supplemental Feeding Program for School Children in the city.

The program to rehabilitate Dagupan’s severely malnourished public school children is jointly undertaken by the city government led by Mayor Belen T. Fernandez, city health office, Kabisig ng Kalahi and Mead Johnson Nutrition Philippines, makers of Lactum 3+ and 6+ and Enfagrow A+Kid.

This is the second year of PEP’s implementation in the city. Last year, the program was implemented in 10 public elementary schools in Dagupan. This year’s beneficiary schools are: Lucao Elementary School, East Central Integrated School, Federico Ceralde Integrated School, North Central Elementary School, Victoria Zarate Elementary School, Sabangan Elementary School, BLISS Elementary School, Carael Elementary School, Pantal Elementary School and Calmay Elementary School.

One module or group of 30 of the most malnourished students from each school will get nutritious hot meals and milk every school day for six months, a total of 120 feeding days.

The PEP program is designed to help reduce dropout rates in public elementary schools due to malnutrition. Dropout rates in PEP school beneficiaries have been reduced to less than 1 percent, significantly much lower than the national average of 33 percent.

About 98 percent of children beneficiaries achieved normal state of nutrition after the feeding period.

Other institutions that have committed to the PEP project include the National Competitiveness Council of the Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Education, Unilever Philippines and the Department of SocialWelfare and Development.

This year, the Philippine Dental Association Pangasinan Chapter and the Pangasinan Medical Society presented a short lecture on oral healthcare and nutrition, respectively, and conducted dental and medical checkups for beneficiaries during the recent program launch.