DOH seeks to reduce malnutrition prevalence to 13.5% by 2028

The Department of Health (DOH) on Monday said it is seeking to reduce malnutrition prevalence to 13.5 percent by 2028.

“Gusto po natin pababain yung tinatawag po nating stunting o yung hindi pag-abot ng tamang sukat ng ating katawan ng ating mga kabataan dahil sa hindi tama ang nutrisyon na kanilang natanggap (We want to reduce what we call stunting or the failure to reach the correct body size of our young people because of the wrong nutrition they receive),” DOH-Metro Manila Center for Health and Development (MMCHD) Non-Communicable and Disease Prevention head, Dr. Shaymae Pearl Ufano said during the Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas press briefing.

“Para po magawa natin ito mayroon tayong tinatawag na Vitamin A supplementation kung saan target naman po natin dito ay ma-cover ang 95 percent ng ating six to nine months old (In order for us to do this we have what is called Vitamin A supplementation where our target here is to cover 95 percent of our six to nine months old),” she added.

The DOH-MMCHD official said they are also eyeing to achieve exclusive breastfeeding rate of 50 percent for newborn babies.

To achieve this goal, Ufano said they are eyeing to intesify the Garantisadong Pambata or the micronutrients supplementation campaign.

A twice a year program, Garantisadong Pambata started in 1999. It is a response to the call of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to reduce mortality of children aged five years old and below.

“Aside from this campaign, gusto rin po nating tuloy-tuloy na maging capacitated and ating mga health workers lalo na po ang ating mga tinatawag na city nutrition action officers (Aside from this campaign, we also want our health workers to continue to be capacitated, especially our so-called city nutrition action officers),” she added.

Ufano vowed that the city health department will continue the procurement and augmentation of micronutrients.

This, as the National Nutrition Council (NNC) estimated that inaction on malnutrition will cost the Philippines in productivity about P2.3 trillion by 2030 due to child stunting.

According to NNC, about 26.7 percent of children under five years old were found to be stunted in 2021.