Rep. Juliette Uy (2nd district, Misamis Oriental) wants a mandatory child nutrition program institutionalized in public elementary schools and barangay day care centers nationwide to help make quality health care easily accessible to Filipino children in their early childhood years.
Uy, a member of the National Unity Party (NUP), said her proposal also aims to adequately prepare preschool kids for the formal learning system by providing them adequate nutrition necessary for their developmental needs.
Her measure, House Bill No. 1548, also aims to establish an efficient system that would identify and prevent, in the early stages, developmental disorders and disabilities among Filipino kids.
“Our proposal will help achieve improved child attendance and survival rates in day care centers and schools by ensuring that adequate health and nutrition programs are accessible to children throughout their early childhood years,” Uy said.
Uy noted that HB 1548 will also heighten the role of public elementary schools and barangay day care centers as “surrogate caregivers of children.”
Under Uy’s proposal, the mandatory program will include complementary feeding in schools to ensure access by public school kids to food supplements, and dietary diversification and backyard gardening projects to guarantee the availability of nutritious food in local areas.
Based on the criteria provided by the Departments of Health (DOH), Education (DepEd) and Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), five regions will be identified each year as priority areas for the implementation of the program, Uy said.
The program is expected to cover all regions in three years, with priority areas to be identified based on poverty incidence, low birth weight, infant and under-five mortality rates, malnutrition rates, and low Grade 1 participation rates, among other criteria.
The DOH, in consultation with the DepEd and the barangays, will oversee the implementation of the nutrition program to identify priority areas where greater attention is needed, as well as the ways and means of increasing the volume of supplementary feeding necessary through the use of local food components.
These agencies will be assisted by the DSWD in monitoring the weight and health of children participating in the supplementary feeding projects, while the Department of Agriculture and the National Food Authority will make their warehouse and trucking facilities available for the effective implementation of the program.
Under the bill, the Departments of the Interior and Local Government, Budget and Management, Trade and Industry and the National Economic and Development Authority will also be involved by providing support in terms of technical aid.