ILOILO City — This city’s sustained nutrition interventions have driven down the prevalence of stunting and wasting among children below five years old, with health officials crediting stronger community-based programs while warning that hundreds of children still require continued government support.
Lance Ivan Trespeces, Community Nutritionist-Dietitian of the Iloilo City Health Office, said the latest Operation Timbang Plus (E-OPT) 2026 showed improvements in the nutritional status of children aged 0 to 59 months, with fewer children suffering from chronic and acute forms of malnutrition.
A total of 37,872 children, representing 84 percent of the city’s target population of 45,267children aged 0 to 59 months, were weighed and measured as part of the annual assessment.
Operation Timbang Plus is a nationwide program that regularly monitors children’s weight and height to identify those who are underweight, stunted, wasted, overweight, or obese. The data serves as the basis for government nutrition interventions and policies.
Among Iloilo City’s districts, Jaro II posted the best nutritional indicators, recording the highest proportion of children with normal nutritional status across all major categories. It registered 99.5 percent normal weight-for-age, 99 percent normal height-for-age, and 99.7 percent normal weight-for-height.
On the other hand, Mandurriao recorded the lowest percentage of children with normal weight-for-age at 96.7 percent and normal height-for-age at 95.5 percent, indicating that it continues to face challenges related to undernutrition.
Mandurriao likewise registered the highest number of malnourished children, with 72 classified as underweight — including 12 severely underweight and 60 underweight — and 116 children identified as stunted, consisting of 31 severely stunted and 85 stunted.
Meanwhile, La Paz posted the lowest percentage of children with normal weight-for-height at 97.7 percent, while Lapuzrecorded the highest combined number of overweight and obese children at 97, including 60 overweight and 37 obesechildren.
Mandurriao also had the highest number of overweight children based on the weight-for-age indicator, with 81 cases.
Trespeces said the figures demonstrate that while undernutrition remains a concern in some areas, overnutrition is also emerging as a public health challenge that requires equal attention.
“Malnutrition is not only about children who are underweight. We also have to address overweight and obesity because these increase the risk of developing non-communicable diseases later in life,” he said.
Still, he attributed the positive trend to the city’s continuing implementation of nutrition interventions, regular growth monitoring, and stronger collaboration among barangays, health workers, schools, and parents.
“The results reflect the collective efforts of our health personnel, barangay nutrition scholars, local government units, and families who have actively participated in our nutrition programs,” he said.
Trespeces stressed, however, that the city cannot afford to be complacent.
“While we are happy to see improvements, our work does not end here. Every child who remains undernourished is a reminder that we still have communities and families that need our support,” he said.
He added that preventing malnutrition begins inside every household and urged parents and guardians to adopt healthier eating practices using the “Pinggang Pinoy” food plate guide developed by the Department of Science and Technology’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute.
“We encourage parents and caregivers to make Pinggang Pinoy part of their daily meal planning. It is a simple but effective guide that helps ensure children receive the right portions of vegetables, fruits, rice or other carbohydrates, and protein needed for healthy growth and development,” Trespeces said.
He also underscored the importance of exclusive breastfeeding, timely complementary feeding, routine growth monitoring, immunization, and proper hygiene in preventing childhood malnutrition./PN
