ILOILO – This province has witnessed a promising trend in its nutritional status over the past three years, with a notable decrease in malnutrition prevalence, including reductions in underweight, wasting, stunting, and overweight cases.
Stunting, characterized by low height-for-age, often results from chronic or recurrent under-nutrition linked to factors like poverty, inadequate maternal health and nutrition, and improper early-life feeding and care practices.
The World Health Organization said stunting can hinder children from reaching their full physical and cognitive potential.
Conversely, wasting, defined by low weight-for-height, typically indicates recent and severe weight loss, which can be caused by insufficient food intake and frequent or prolonged illnesses.
Data from the Iloilo Provincial Health Office (IPHO) from 2021 to 2023 showed the following figures:
* Underweight – 2.98% in 2021, 2.53% in 2022, and 2.44% in 2023
* Wasting – 1.58% in 2021, 1.31% in 2022, and 1.11% in 2023
* Stunting – 7.46% in 2021, 5.33% in 2022, and 4.84% in 2023
* Overweight – 3.15% in 2021, 2.65% in 2022, and 2.26% in 2023
Dr. Wendel Tupas-Marcelo, Provincial Health Officer I, said, “If we look at the nutritional status of the province over the past three years, we see an improvement. There’s a reduction in malnutrition prevalence across various parameters, particularly in the prevalence of underweight, wasting, stunting, and overweight.”
The improvement in nutritional status is attributed to the integrated and comprehensive response and strategies implemented province-wide, involving local government units (LGUs), government agencies, non-government organizations (NGOs), stakeholders, private sectors, and community involvement down to the barangay level.
The strategies, referred to as the “ART RESPONSE”, encompass the following components:
* A – Adequate Food Production
* R – Rehabilitation of Malnutrition
* T – Training and Capacity Building of Nutrition Workers
* R – Reactivated Nutrition Committee
* E – Education to Promote Good Nutritional and Behavior Change
* S – Social Marketing for Nutrition Support
* P – People Empowerment
* O – Outstanding Performance in Nutrition Program Implementation
* N – Networking and Linkages with Government Agencies and Non-Government Organizations
* S – Scaling Up Nutrition
* E – Emergency Response
Dr. Marcelo said the IPHO partners with the Provincial Agriculture Office to ensure food security, a key part of the provincial government’s initiatives under the leadership of Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr.
The provincial government also focuses on establishing outpatient therapeutic care facilities for children with severe acute malnutrition, and actively conducts training for nutrition workers to strengthen community-level nutrition interventions.
On the other hand, the Provincial Nutrition Committee gives local government units (LGUs) technical assistance to ensure that their municipal and barangay nutrition committees function as they should.
“Kinahanglan people empowerment. Amo na nga ang BNS (Barangay Nutrition Scholars) gina mobilize to capacitate sang aton communities,” said Marcelo./PN
