The Department of Social Welfare and Development in Central Visayas (DSWD-7) on Sunday revealed that it had fed 150,637 children in 130 cities and municipalities in the region.

This is under the Supplementary Feeding Program (SFP) with 120 feeding days for Cycle 14.

DSWD-7 regional director Shalaine Marie Lucero cited the local government units (LGUs) as playing a vital role in achieving the target number of SFP beneficiaries in the region.

“We always ensure that our partner CDWs (child development workers) understand their roles and reinforce their responsibilities in the community,” Lucero said.

She added that the figures for 2024 indicated improved nutrition among the child beneficiaries.

This year, the program is in the last stage of Cycle 14, with teams deployed to monitor the weight and height of the child beneficiaries to measure improvements in their nutritional status.

“We call on the LGUs to take a proactive stance in helping them achieve the desired nutritional status by implementing local programs that will sustain, improve, or even continue our efforts,” Lucero said.

She also assured that malnutrition incidence would be reduced and eliminated among preschool children until they reach a certain age when different approaches will be made to combat hunger and poverty in the community.

In 2023, SFP reported that 116 out of 130 implementing LGUs had achieved 85 percent or higher nutritional status, an indicator of children’s improvement after completing a feeding cycle.

The program allocates P15 daily for food and milk to children aged two to five enrolled in public child development centers and supervised neighborhood play, also known as daycare centers.

Food is served in the form of hot meals and ready-to-eat food, with milk to supplement the daily three-meal consumption of children and help address the incidence of malnutrition among preschoolers.