ILOILO — The provincial government is constantly monitoring the nutritional status of Iloilo Province, focusing on addressing issues like prevalent wasting, stunting, underweight, and overweight conditions.
Despite notable improvements in the province’s overall nutritional health, Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. said the Iloilo Provincial Health Office (IPHO) is focused in developing strategies to further enhance residents’ well-being, particularly among children aged zero to 59 months.
Stunting is defined as low height-for-age. It results from chronic or recurrent undernutrition, usually associated with poverty, poor maternal health and nutrition, and frequent illness and/or inappropriate early-life feeding and care.
According to the World Health Organization, stunting prevents children from reaching their physical and cognitive potential.
On the other hand, wasting is defined as low weight-for-height. It often indicates recent and severe weight loss, although it can persist.
It usually occurs when a person has not had food of adequate quality and quantity and/or has had frequent or prolonged illnesses.
Stunting and wasting are forms of undernutrition or not getting enough nutrients.
Defensor emphasized the importance of community-level involvement in addressing nutritional deficiencies, which led to the recent convening of the first Punong Barangays Nutrition Congress. The initiative sought to engage barangay leaders and local functionaries more actively in the nutrition programs.
“Our barangay captains and functionaries are our front lines in the battle against malnutrition. We organized the congress to revisit and strengthen our nutritional interventions directly with them,” Defensor explained.
A key focus of the congress was to bolster the effectiveness of the Barangay Nutrition Councils, which are instrumental in planning and implementing local nutrition programs.
Defensor also highlighted the critical link between nutrition and food security, stressing the necessity of ensuring that all residents have reliable access to essential nutrients, including carbohydrates and proteins.
To improve food security, the governor revealed plans to distribute hybrid rice seeds to farmers with the support of the Department of Agriculture (DA), aiming to increase local rice production.
In response to the challenges posed by the African Swine Fever (ASF), the provincial government is expediting a recovery program to restore a stable protein supply.
Additionally, Defensor is exploring the establishment of MoRProGRes Gardens in barangays to enhance vegetable availability and is considering partnerships with the dairy industry and other sources to supplement the existing feeding programs.
Data from the IPHO shows a declining trend in malnutrition across the province over the past three years, with reductions in underweight, wasting, stunting, and overweight rates from 2021 to 2023.
* Underweight – 2021 (2.98 percent), 2022 (2.53 percent), and 2023 (2.44 percent)
* Wasting – 2021 (1.58 percent), 2022 (1.31 percent), and 2023 (1.11 percent)
* Stunting – 2021 (7.46 percent), 2022 (5.33 percent), and 2023 (4.84 percent)
* Overweight – 2021 (3.15 percent), 2022 (2.65 percent), and 2023 (2.26 percent)/PN
