About a thousand infants and toddlers were fed simultaneously  Tuesday to kick off at 180-day daily feeding program under the Start Right, Live Bright Nutrition Program of the Negrense Volunteers for Change  Foundation Inc., NVC president Millie Kilayko said yesterday.

Representatives from six government agencies also signed a Statement of Support for the project, highlighting government support for the project which identified beneficiaries from the poorest of the poor in various sites across the province of Negros Occidental, she said. 

NVC Foundation’s focus of infants and toddlers is driven by a study by the World Health Organization, which indicates that the most vulnerable period of child development is from the period of 6-30 months, she also said.

The study states that from six months onwards, breast milk alone is no longer sufficient to meet the needs of the growing child. Nutritional deficits in babies from 6-18 months can cause stunting, poor school performance, reduced productivity and social development which will continue throughout their lives, the study shows.

NVC  opted to focus on this age level because most interventions already being  given focus on children who have enrolled in Day Care at 2 ½ years, thus a vacuum  in spite of the studies showing the vulnerability of children below 2 ½ years, Kilayko said.

Using equipment provided by the Department of Science Technology, NVC Foundation produced the complementary food for the program in dry (powdered) form. 

The Foundation also harnessed its member-volunteers and Barangay Health Workers to help implement the program which will run daily for 180-days. 

The first feeding was done at about the same time in five barangays of Bacolod City, as well as in Victorias, Bago, Binalbagan, Toboso, La Castellana, Moises Padilla and Cauayan Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Statement of Support was signed by representatives of Department of Science and Technology, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Health, National Nutrition Council of the Philippines, Provincial Health Office and Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office, Kilayko said.

Project sponsors were Local Government Units, private corporations, and individual donors including three anonymous ones, she added.*

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