Over 25% of Pinoy kids underweight

A high percentage of Filipino children are underweight or stunted, placing them at a higher risk of death. This is one of the alarming results of a 2003 survey undertaken by the National Food Research Institute (NFRI).

Children under five years old account for six million of the country’s population.

Based on the study, over 25 percent of these children, or more than 1.5 million, are underweight, and over 30 percent, or more than 1.8 million, are "under height." These are indicators of malnutrition which makes them highly vulnerable to sickness and death.

Citing a Lancet study, Dr. Howard Sobel, a medical officer of the World Health Organization, said undernourishment is the major cause of death among children under the age of five worldwide.

Malnutrition claims the lives of 10 million children in more than 200 countries annually. In the Philippines, close to 50,000 children die every year before their fifth birthday due to undernutrition.

"There are preventive interventions to reverse the statistics," Sobel said. "These deaths can be prevented through good nutrition starting with breastfeeding, appropriate complementary feeding, and fortification."

"Breastfeeding is crucial because it is the most effective way to reduce child deaths," said WHO country representative Jean-Marc Olivé.

"Mother’s milk provides complete nutrition and maximum protection from diseases, and significantly lowers risks of common infant sickness like infection, diarrhea, allergies, and bacterial meningitis."

However, while mothers start to breastfeed their babies, they are unable to sustain it due to misconceptions like insufficient milk, becoming ill or refusal of child to suck.

"These erroneous beliefs discourage women from breastfeeding and leave out their children in getting the healthiest start in life," Olivé said.

As such, the Department of Health (DOH) and WHO have partnered with various multisectoral organizations to promote breastfeeding in the country as a way to advance neonatal and child health.

Both recently signed the terms of reference for the promotion of the "Infant and Young Child Feeding Program in the Barangay Level" with the Liga ng mga Barangay sa Pilipinas.

The project aims to reach every woman, neonate and adolescent in at least 1,000 depressed communities in the country with basic health services.

It includes the promotion and education of proper breastfeeding practices through the project "My Dede is for my Bebe."

The DOH-National Capital Region and WHO are also working with the Taguig City-initiated project that seeks to protect and promote maternal and child rights in participating barangays in Lower Bicutan. The United Nations Fund for Population Activities is financing the program.

Currently, efforts to improve the services of lying-in centers, the competence of midwives, and awareness of breastfeeding in Taguig are underway.

Alongside these barangay and city programs are aggressive efforts to push national laws that would promote breastfeeding by strictly enforcing the Philippine Code of Marketing Breastmilk Substitutes, Rooming-in and Breastfeeding Act of 1991, and mother/baby-friendly hospital initiatives.