The Philippines should invest more in programs tackling childhood undernutrition to eliminate what is long considered a “silent pandemic” afflicting many of the country’s poor and vulnerable population, according to recent study released by the World Bank.
Childhood stunting – characterized by prolonged nutritional deficiency among infants and young children– is considered one of the most serious but least-addressed problems in the world and an even more pressing issue in the Philippines, says the report “Undernutrition in the Philippines: Scale, Scope and Opportunities for Nutrition Policy and Programming.”
In the Philippines, around 30 percent of children under 5 years of age are stunted – considered high for its level of income and high compared to most of its neighbors. Other countries with similar levels of income have rates of stunting averaging around 20 percent of children under 5 years of age.
The Philippines’ rate of stunting places it fifth among countries in the East Asia and Pacific region with the highest stunting prevalence, and among the top ten countries globally with the highest number of stunted children.
Ndiamé Diop, World Bank Country Director for Brunei, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand said undernutrition is a critical issue hampering the Philippines’ human and economic development.
“Healthy children can do well in school and look forward to a prosperous future as productive members of society, while undernourished children tend to be sickly, learn less, more likely to drop out of school and their economic productivity as adults can be clipped by more 10 percent in their lifetime,” said Diop.
“Improving the nutrition of all children is key to the country’s goals of investing in people and boosting human capital for a more inclusive pattern of economic growth. To achieve that, we need greater coordination among the local and national government units, as well as participation of the private sector and civil society to address this silent pandemic afflicting many poor and vulnerable families,” he said.
In some regions, the level of stunting exceeds 40 percent of children under five years of age. This is true in Bangsamoro Region in Muslim Mindanao, Mimaropa, Bicol, and Western Visayas. In rural areas, children are more likely to be stunted than their urban counterparts.
Among the primary causes of undernutrition are poor infant and young child feeding practices, ill health, low access to diverse, nutritious foods, inadequate access to health services, unhealthy household environment, and poverty.
According to Nkosinathi Mbuya, World Bank senior nutrition specialist for East Asia and the Pacific Region and lead author of the report, there is only a narrow window of opportunity for adequate nutrition to ensure children’s optimal health and physical and cognitive development. It spans the first 1,000 days of life from the day of conception to the child’s second birthday, he said.
“Any undernutrition occurring during this period can lead to extensive and largely irreversible damage to physical growth, brain development, and, more broadly, human capital formation,” said Mbuya. “Therefore, interventions to improve nutritional outcomes must focus on this age group and women of child-bearing age.”
Critical to tackling undernutrition at scale are better and higher levels of nutrition investments as well as adequate domestic financing for nutrition-related programs for vulnerable populations, says the report. Increased direct government funding to and from local government units to deliver on their multi-sectoral local nutrition action plans to be a priority.
The report suggests several priority recommendations, which if implemented over the next few years can bring about effective and sustainable progress in the Government’s efforts to tackle the persistent challenge of undernutrition in the country.
These include securing adequate and predictable financing for nutrition-related programs to achieve nutrition goals; implementing at scale, an evidence-based package of nutrition interventions that should be made available to eligible households in high stunting municipalities; addressing the underlying determinants of undernutrition through a multi-sector effort, and; ensuring that nutrition is one of the key priorities in the agendas of both the executive and legislative bodies in municipalities.
Such a comprehensive effort would require high-level government ownership and leadership at all levels which would facilitate a whole-of government approach to achieving nutrition results, according to the report.
Meanwhile, local government units are vital in the implementation of nutrition interventions to eradicate undernutrition in the Philippines, the Zuellig Family Foundation said.
"We are not really lacking in good nutritional laws. We are not also lacking in assessment reports and evaluation reports of what needs to be done, the gaps identified. Our challenge really is the implementation," said Ernesto Garilao, chairman of ZFF.
The WB also recognized LGUs as central to the country's efforts in eliminating malnutrition. The report enumerated actions needed for LGUs to perform their role. They should prioritize and support nutrition interventions, fund the municipal nutrition action officer and advocate for inclusion and use of high-quality monitoring and evaluation system for nutrition and health programs.
Garilao said LGUs have a critical role in implementations and investment plans. "Local chief executives who really understand and own the challenge really make a difference…because it is something they need to do," Garilao said.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, chair of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Zero Hunger, urged everyone to eradicate the problem.
"This is never a one-man job nor the government's job alone. We need everyone's help," Nograles said. Rushelle Intia
