DUMAGUETE CITY, Negros Oriental, July 26 (PIA) -- The Negros Oriental Nutrition Council has recorded a downward trend in malnutrition prevalence rate in the province and in Dumaguete City amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Provincial Nutrition Action Officer Dr. Liland Estacion said records show a slight drop of 0.2% from 5.2% to 5.0% in underweight children; from 12.9% to 11% for stunted children; and from 3.8% to 3.5% for wasted and overweight children in 2019 and 2020, respectively. 

Estacion, who is also the incident commander of the Provincial Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (PIATF-EID), attributed the drop in the malnutrition rate to community quarantine conditions as the children and mothers are staying at home and have the time to prepare and eat nutritious food.

“This is one of the positive impacts of the quarantine classifications, but I’m not saying that it is good that we have this pandemic,” Estacion said.

During the Kapihan sa PIA forum on July 22, Dumaguete City Nutrition Action Officer Lourdes Taburaza said despite the pandemic, all forms of malnutrition decreased from 1.9% in 2020 to 1.7% this year. 

Taburaza said records show a decrease among stunted children from 3.3% to 2.3%, severely wasted from 1.2% to 0.7%, while obesity and overweight dipped from 3.2% to 2.4%.

She attributes the decrease in the city’s malnutrition rates to the interventions implemented in the city, which include city government’s budget support of P3 million for supplementary feeding for Day Care children.

Children aged six months to two years who are identified to have stunted growth have been provided with milk and nutritious food.

Despite the pandemic, the Barangay Nutrition Scholars were able to deliver the rations house to house.

“Last year we also started our ‘Tutok Kaininan’ program and sustained it this year for pregnant women to achieve or improve the nutrition figures in the city,” said Taburaza.

As the province joins the country in the celebration of Nutrition Month this July, the National Nutrition Council (NNC) has stressed that good health and nutrition in the first 1000 days of life of the children are important.

Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Focal Person Kristal Katrina Bacay of NNC challenged local nutrition committees to continue their efforts pushing for the gradual decrease in the  malnutrition rate.

Bacay said that while the government is battling the pandemic, it is also important to focus efforts on the interventions for the first 1,000 days of life of the child to prevent stunting.

“Nutrition has some bearing on school performance, economic productivity, and development,” said Bacay. (JCT/PIA7 Negros Oriental)