CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (PIA)--There is a misallocation of food spending, according to the National Nutrition Council (NNC)-10 that is why about 47 million Filipinos are food insecure.

Aside from poverty and inflation, Filipinos nowadays go to fast food for easy-to-go meals despite the availability of fresh fruits and vegetables in the market.

In the Talakayan sa PIA media forum, Gladys Mae S. Fernandez, NNC-10 regional coordinator, shared that, based on Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) data, about 75 million Filipinos cannot afford a healthy diet.

"So there are strategies nga pwede nato nga makasulti ta nga ma-afford ra gihapon nato ang healthy diet. Through the collaborative actions from our different stakeholders, kaya ra gyud nato ma-afford ang healthy diet [So there are strategies where we can cay that we can still afford healthy diet. Through the collaborative actions from our different stakeholders, we can really afford healthy diet]," Fernandez said.

For this year’s 49th Nutrition Month celebration with the theme "Healthy Diet, Gawing Affordable for All," the goal is to create greater awareness of the importance of nutrition, but with the high prices on food commodities, Fernandez cited that this may be one reason we cannot afford a healthy diet.

As to the nutrition situation, Fernandez shared that under the national scope, stunting among 0–5-year-olds is at 26.7 percent, wasted at 5.5 percent, and overweight at 3.9 percent.

Compared to the regional level, Region 10's prevalence of stunting decreased from 6.4 percent last year to 4.9 percent, and underweight decreased from 2.9 percent to 2.3 percent. Wasting is 1.5 percent to 1.2 percent.

"Among the provinces and cities in Region 10, the highest prevalence of malnutrition, especially on stunting is Camiguin province," she said.

Lanao del Norte is the next province after this, and Misamis Oriental has the lowest prevalence of malnutrition among the provinces. Among the cities in Region 10, the city with the highest malnutrition prevalence compared to previous years is still Oroquieta City.

"Ang stunting nila naa sa 16 so double digit pa, 16.61% wala pa gyud nila napaubos, underweight 5.64%, 3.82% stunting, and 5.55% overweight [Their stunting is 16, still at double digit--it's 16.1% and they are still not able to lower it down. Their underweight is 5.64%, stunting is 3.82%, and overweight is 5.55%]," she said.

On the other hand, the city that has the lowest prevalence of malnutrition, particularly those with no stunting, is Cagayan de Oro City, while thin or wasted children are zero in El Salvador City; thus, the low prevalence of malnutrition is in Misamis Oriental.

Food availability

In terms of food availability, food affordability, and food accessibility, Carlota S. Madriaga, regional technical director for operations of the Department of Agriculture-10, shared that this is one of the priorities of the department.

"During sa time sa pandemic hangtod karong panahona, nagpahigayon ta og gitawag nato og Kadiwa. Quality ang mapalit sa atong consumers, affordable kay wala naman tong layers marketing channel, from producer direct to the consumer, busa barato ilang mapalit og presko pa gyud, and then available siya kanunay kay hangtud karong panahona," she said.

[During the time of the pandemic until this time, we have continued to hold Kadiwa. Consumers can buy quality produce that is affordable because there are no more layers of marketing channels, from producer direct to the consumer. That is why they can be bought cheap, fresh, and available regularly]

Loidaliza Vizcayno, a barangay nutrition scholar from Balulang, shared that,  based on her observation, there is a lack of knowledge among parents, especially in how they take care of their children, particularly in providing correct food, especially nutritious food.

Second is poverty, Vizcayno said, especially if the father does not have a job. The kids will ultimately not have enough food to eat.

The third is the case of teenage mothers. There is a need to monitor and teach these mothers proper handling and the provision of nutritious food to infants.

"Teenage man sila so lahi ilang lifestyle [They are teenagers, so their lifestyle is different]," she said.

Nenita F. Rabe, city nutrition action officer of the Local Government of Cagayan de Oro, shared that identification of the problem must start in the barangay.

As CNAO, she goes to barangays to advocate for nutrition programs. She said the local government units must identify and acknowledge the problem and identify solutions as well to address nutrition problems. (JMOR/PIA-10)