SORSOGON CITY, Sorsogon (PIA) — The provincial government of Sorsogon has rolled out a mobile kitchen providing hot meals to undernourished pupils in the municipalities of Bulan and Donsol.
According to Provincial Nutrition Officer Grace Jardin, the mobile kitchen project is being implemented to achieve zero malnutrition in the province.
The project involves cooking hot meals and serving them to children at identified school beneficiaries, except on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays.
The feeding activity is done daily and is focused on grade school children who are wasted, severely wasted, and stunted.
The 90-day feeding program will be monitored by Barangay Nutrition Scholars, and the impact of the project will be assessed by the PNC after 90 days.
The nutritional status of children will be assessed before and after the feeding activity.
If, after 90 days, the beneficiary remains undernourished, the feeding activity will continue for up to 120 days or until they are classified as nourished children, according to Arthur Balmadrid, coordinator of the provincial government’s social protection program.
Jardin noted that while there has been a decrease in malnutrition among schoolchildren in the schools division of Sorsogon, the mobile kitchen project was implemented to address wasting among schoolchildren in the province.
Currently, there is a 17.97 percent prevalence of malnutrition in Sorsogon, which means that 17 out of 100 elementary school children in the province are undernourished.
The World Health Organization’s standard for malnutrition among school children, including preschoolers, is a 5 percent cut-off.
Jardin attributes this prevalence to children’s inclination towards foods and drinks that have minimal nutrients, such as milk tea, street foods, and other processed foods that are high in sugar, salt, and fat contents, among others.
Andrew (name changed), a 9-year-old third-grade student from Bulan, Sorsogon, eats three meals a day, but it doesn’t seem to be enough to provide his body with the proper nutrition needed for him to perform well in school.
On the other hand, Angel (not his real name), a fifth-grade student from Donsol, only weighs 25 kilograms, way below the average weight of 30 kilos for her age according to the World Health Organization Weight Chart.
According to Jardin, students who experience malnutrition are more likely to have lower grades and lower weight averages compared to their food-secure counterparts.
Head teacher Almaida Avisado of N. Roque Elementary School in Bulan expressed her gratitude to Gov. Edwin Hamor for spearheading the project.
She is optimistic that this initiative will have a positive effect on the health and school performance of their pupils, as well as the improvement of the learning and recovery program being implemented by the DepEd.
Avisado added that through this feeding program, children are given food that is rich in vitamins and nutrients.
The food delivered by the mobile kitchen will help augment the insufficient food in their homes.
Teacher Jean Zuñiga also attested that most of their pupils belong to food-poor families.
They often come to school with an empty stomach, which is why the mobile kitchen is a big help, Zuñiga said.
“The mobile kitchen also encourages the children to attend school,” she added. (PIA 5/Sorsogon)
