The National Nutrition Council in Central Visayas has recently welcomed Cebu's province-wide feeding program for students but stressed that the provincial government should focus into helping malnourished kids and pregnant women.

NNC-7 Regional Nutrition Program Coordinator, Dr. Parolita Mission said the planned province-wide feeding program is a good initiative of Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia to feed the learners enrolled in public schools.

"This initiative will help address hunger experienced by children especially those coming from food-insecure households," Mission said. "However, it is more ideal to feed pregnant women and children 6-23 months old to help reduce stunting in the province."

The NNC identified Cebu and Negros Oriental in Central Visayas as among the 34 identified priority provinces in the country, which require more nutrition interventions from various government and private stakeholders.

"These provinces have been identified based on the magnitude of stunting among 0 to 59 months old children (malnutrition), the magnitude of population with households with per capita income below the food poverty threshold (food security) and economic capacity," the NNC said.

To recall, Garcia recently announced that the province will have its feeding program starting 15 November 2023. This will be for all public schools and will cater to over 878,000 students from Kindergarten to Grade 12.

The Cebu governor and the National Food Authority in Central Visayas also signed a memorandum of agreement for NFA to supply rice for the porridge feeding to students.