Nutrition Year

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor CHERYL CRUZ Desk Editor NIDA A. BUENAFE Sports Editor RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

The Philippines celebrates National Nutrition Month every July and this year’s theme “Kalamidad Paghandaan: Gutom at Malnutrisyon Agapan!” stresses the importance of proper nutrition in time of emergencies. The National Nutrition Council is the lead government agency that will shine the spotlight on the importance of nutrition awareness as a key to better preparation and more efficient response to the disasters and emergencies that routinely ravage our country.

As various nutrition-related activities are lined up all over the country, there is an ironic report from the Department of Education showing Negros Occidental and Bacolod City topping the list of public schools in Western Visayas with the most malnourished children for school year 2013-2014.

A report from Dep Ed 6 Resource Mobilization Special Program and Project Division chief Eden Deraida at the Busog, Lusog, Talino forum at the Sanctuario de la Salle in Bacolod, pins the number of malnourished public grade school pupils from Kinder to Grade 6 in Negros Occidental and Bacolod City at 27,536. Iloilo ranks second with 10,911 and Antique came third with 3,610 undernourished public school students. DepEd data also indicates that instead of decreasing, the total number of malnourished public school children in Western Visayas even increased by 19.15 percent .

This year’s Nutrition Month focuses on the value of nutrition in the time of disaster but it is starting to look like Western Visayas may have to deviate from the theme as the growing number of malnourished public school children looks like it is going to be a continuing disaster if their nutrition situation does not improve, especially for list topnotcher Negros Occidental.

Malnutrition is a complex problem because it is usually a direct symptom of extreme poverty. Growing malnutrition means growing poverty. Is this what is happening to Western Visayas? Is our government doing something about this growing problem? Perhaps Western Visayas and Negros Occidental need to extend the celebration of Nutrition Month from one month to an entire year?*