Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
Tabaco National High School
Tabaco City

MALNOURISHMENT AMONG CHILDREN: A CASE STUDY

ON SAN LORENZO, TABACO CITY

By:
Cyrus Alexander Vizon
Wesley Concepcion
Josh Michael Sagario
Camille Burac
Mark David Bernal
Jhon Rey Bracino
Albert Cruz
Dazle Octavo
Teddy Salvador Benig
Emerson Louis Lim

Subject Teacher:
Mr. Bonifacio Caña
 INTRODUCTION
Malnourishment is one of the major problems that our country is facing. This
problem can’t be set aside. This won’t choose any victim. It will affect adults but mostly, it
affects the youth particularly children of ages below 10 years old.
In Tabaco City, the barangay of San Lorenzo under barangay captain, Christopher
Brutas, are among the top communities with high cases of malnourishment in the past
year. San Lorenzo is an urban community with a population more than 7000 individuals
which makes it one of the biggest community in Tabaco City (Bueno, 2014).
In dealing with solid waste, the community has adopted their usual means of
dumping garbage in an open-pit dumpsite. The community’s water supply is managed by
the Tabaco Water District (TAWAD) but some households in the community are not
connected to the system which is due to financial status or the house’s location. For the
food supply, members of this community get most of their food by fishing since the open
sea is nearby, they also get their food from poultries and newly harvested fruits and
vegetables. The researchers’ also notice empty farms and abandoned lands which
causes the community to have a lesser food production.
The community administered by Christopher Brutas held various programs. The
programs’ objective is to guide and help each member of the community with their
problems and difficulties. One of these programs is the so called ‘milk feeding program’
which aims to provide safe milk to about 1000 undernourished children on a regular basis
for a period of 120 days (Anonymous, 2013).
The nutritional status of our communities is a reflection of our individual nutritional
health. Perhaps the most significant factor affecting the nutritional status of communities
is economics. Having sufficient funds to purchase adequate food supplies is a necessity.
This case study on San Lorenzo, Tabaco City is to show whether the community’s
way of living and surroundings cause the malnourishment of children below 10 years old.
The researchers’ interest on the malnourishment of children was conceptualized due to
the numerous report concerning the health of the community.
 PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF THE PROBLEM AND ITS POSSIBLE
SOLUTIONS
The data showing the nutritional status of children in the community of the year
2017 was acquired from the researchers’ interview with the barangay captain. The
acquired data is presented in the table below.

Table 1: Nutritional Status of Children below 10 Years Old of the Year 2017
Malnourished Well-nourished Total

N % N % N %

Gender

Female 193 59.8 130 40.2 323 47.9

Male 198 56.4 153 43.6 351 52.1

Age range

0-1 85 58.2 61 41.8 146 21.7

2-3 131 70.8 54 29.2 185 27.4

4-5 87 61.7 54 38.3 141 20.9

6-7 59 49.2 61 50.8 120 17.8

8-9 29 35.2 53 64.6 82 12.2

Total 391 58.0 283 42.0 674 100.0

The data shows that among the 674 children, only 283 are well-nourished and
more than half of all children are malnourished. This suggests that most of the children
below 10 years old in the community of San Lorenzo doesn’t receive adequate nutrients
from diet which is due to the following factors:

Disease. Open pit dumpsites carry a lot of diseases including malaria, cholera,
typhoid and respiratory allergies that weakens a persons’ metabolism creating a vicious
cycle of infection and malnourishment, leading to illness (Anonymous, 2015). Not only
that it holds a lot of diseases, open pit dumpsites are known to be smelly and an eye sore
that affects each of the members daily activities or tasks. To stop the spread of disease
due to open pit dumpsites, the community should find an alternative dumpsite that will not
harm any children.

Lack of Access to Food. This does not occur because of lack of food, but rather
people are too poor to obtain enough food. Non-availability of food in markets, difficult
access to markets due to lack of transportation, and insufficient financial resource are all
reasons why some parts of the community have difficulty in obtaining food. The
researchers’ suggest for the community to have programs concerning members who have
problems with food.

Lack of Safe Drinking Water. There are parts in the community where members
don’t have access to safe drinking water especially those that are far from the center of
the community. Lack of portable water, poor sanitation, and dangerous human practices
are some factors which forbids access to safe drinking water (Anonymous, 2011). To have
a safe drinking water, members should stop activities that can cause water contamination
and have a regular maintenance on their source of water.

Conflicts. Conflicts have a direct impact on food resource. Brutas (2017) stated
that human conflicts are some of the reasons why the community experiences food
shortage. Conflicts which escalates to violence is the reason why members of the
community flee which leads to abandoned fields and farms that no longer provides food.
In order to minimize human conflicts, each member of the community should have equal
distribution of rights among lands and properties.

Poverty. Most cases of malnourishment are linked to poverty. Poverty is defined to

be the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support (Mitchell,
2015). The community of San Lorenzo seems to be rich and lively but that is only a portion
of the community. In fact there are a lot of members which are in the state of poverty.
Brutas (2017) stated that almost all malnourished children in the community are caused
by poverty or their lack of resources to obtain their daily needs such as food and water
supply. In order to help these people, the researchers suggest for the community to have
programs that will help each member obtain their needs.
 CONCLUSIONS
The case study about malnourishment among children was conducted to
determine whether the community’s way of living and surroundings cause the
malnourishment of children below 10 years old. This study showed why there are more
malnourished children than well-nourished children. The malnourishment of children is
due to the different environmental factors and conflicts in the community. Lack of
resources and knowledge is the leading cause of malnourishment of children in the
community. Without the right knowledge and resources, it is difficult for the members
especially the parents to nourish their children. To minimize the number of malnourished
children the researchers’ presented possible solutions and suggestions that will help and
guide the community to healthy living. The researchers’ found out that the community of
San Lorenzo needs more concern from the government regarding the environment in
which the malnourished children live in.

INSIGHTS/REALIZATIONS
Everyone feels hungry at times. Hunger is the body’s signal that it needs food.
Once we’ve eaten enough food to satisfy our bodies’ needs, hunger goes away until our
stomachs are empty again.

Malnutrition is not the same thing as hunger, although they often go together.
People who are malnourished lack the nutrients for proper health and development.
These people are more likely to get sick and, in severe cases, might even die. A lot of
children in the community are malnourished and a huge factor which contributes to this
is poverty. The researchers’ believe that if poverty is eradicated, a huge portion of the
malnourished children will no longer suffer from malnourishment.

Poverty is not the only cause of malnourishment. By roaming around the

community, the researchers realized there are a lot of factors that cause the
malnourishment of children. These factors not only affect the health of the children today,
but also to the children of tomorrow therefore we must act now to save our future children.
 REFERENCES

Mitchell, Elizabeth. (2015). Poverty against Humanity. Retrieved October 29, 2017
from https://www.aprottmoney.com/poverty.php=26130

Bueno, David. (2014). The News Dateliner. Retrieved October 28, 2017 from
www.citypopulation.de/php/tabaco-city-albay.php?050517

Anonymous. (2015). Symptoms of Malnutrition. Retrieved October 28, 2017 from

www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/51761.php

Anonymous. (2013). Projects in Tabaco. Retrieved October 25, 2017 from

www.tabacocity.com.ph/updates/newsandevents.php?id=12

Anonymous. (2011). Imperial City. Retrieved October 25, 2017 from

www.newsinfo.inquirer.netp

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