ILOILO – This province has significantly reduced its malnutrition rates among young children over the past three years, an achievement health officials attribute to the provincial government’s “ART Response for Nutrition” campaign.
Data from the Iloilo Provincial Health Office (IPHO) showed marked declines across key indicators of child malnutrition between 2022 and 2024. Based on the 2024 Operation Timbang Plus (OPT Plus) survey covering 146,264 children aged zero to 59 months (81.39 percent of the total target population), the province recorded the following malnutrition prevalence rates:
* Underweight/Severely Underweight – 2.36% or 3,627 children
* Stunted/Severely Stunted – 4.39% or 6,752 children
* Wasted/Severely Wasted – 0.91% or 1,397 children
* Overweight/Obese – 2.04% or 3,148 children
Trends indicate steady improvement. Underweight prevalence dropped from 2.53% in 2022 to 2.36% in 2024; stunting fell from 5.33% to 4.39%; and wasting decreased from 1.31% to 0.91% over the same period.
According to Provincial Health Officer Dr. Socorro Colmenares-Quiñon, the positive results are closely linked to the full implementation of the “ART Response for Nutrition”, a comprehensive strategy designed to localize the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN) 2023-2028.
“It is a strategic framework to guide our programs, projects, and activities aimed at creating a malnutrition-free province,” said Quiñon.
The ART acronym stands for: A – Adequate Food Production; R – Rehabilitation of Malnutrition; T – Training and Capacity Building of Nutrition Workers; R – Reactivated Nutrition Committees; E – Education to Promote Good Nutrition and Behavior Change; S – Social Marketing for Nutrition Support; P – People Empowerment; O – Outstanding Performance in Nutrition Program Implementation (awarding); N – Networking and Linkages with Agencies and NGOs; S – Scaling Up Nutrition; E – Emergency Response (Nutrition in Emergencies)
Despite the overall improvement, certain municipalities remain hotspots for malnutrition. In 2024, Balasan posted the highest underweight prevalence at 8.45%, followed by Badiangan (7.8%) and San Rafael (7.78%). Balasan also topped the list in wasting prevalence at 5.98%, while Badiangan led in stunting at a high 20.74%.
Here are the municipalities with the highest malnutrition prevalence in 2024:
* Underweight (highest prevalence) – Balasan – 8.45% (178 children); Badiangan – 7.8% (111 children); San Rafael – 7.78% (93 children); Concepcion – 6.47% (185 children); Carles – 6.27% (354 children); Alimodian – 5.26%; Calinog – 4.4% (197 children); San Miguel – 4.18% (65 children); Leon – 3.4% (118 children); Lemery – 3.37% (92 children)
* Wasting (highest prevalence) – Balasan – 5.98% (126 children); Alimodian – 4.93% (104 children); Carles – 3.84% (217 children); Concepcion – 3.15% (90 children); Santa Barbara – 2.31% (127 children); San Miguel – 1.67% (26 children); San Rafael – 1.59% (19 children); Leganes – 1.37% (31 children); Calinog – 1.36% (61 children); New Lucena – 1.12% (14 children)
* Stunting (highest prevalence) – Badiangan – 20.74% (292 children); Balasan – 19.08% (402 children); Alimodian – 14.36% (303 children); Concepcion – 13.25% (379 children); San Rafael – 13.13% (157 children); Carles – 11.38% (643 children); San Miguel – 10.54% (164 children); Zarraga – 9.76% (166 children); Dumangas – 7.33% (393 children); San Joaquin – 6.27% (175 children)/PN
