ICT

PROJECT
“Curbing Malnutrition among Filipino children”
‘For the children is the hope for a brighter future!’

Proponents:
 “Curbing Malnutrition among Filipino children”

I. Executive Summary

Everyone feels hungry at all times, every hour of every day. Hunger is one’s body

signal that we have to eat. Eating is one of human’s survivals. If we don’t eat we feel

weak but, once we've eaten enough food to satisfy our bodies' needs, hunger goes

away until our stomachs are empty again. However, Malnutrition is not the same thing

as hunger, although they often go together. People who are chronically malnourished

lack the nutrients needed for proper health and development. Someone can be

malnourished for a long or short period of time, and the condition may be mild or

severe. People who are malnourished are more likely to get sick and, in severe cases,

might even die. Chronic hunger and malnutrition can cause significant health problems.

People who go hungry all the time are likely to be underweight, weighing significantly

less than an average person of their size. If malnourished as a child, their growth may

also be stunted, making them much shorter than average.

And sadly, many countries suffered malnourishment. And our country, the

Philippines ranks 28th in the world when it comes to hunger, according to the Global

Hunger Index (GHI). It is also included in the 38 countries that account for 90% of the

global burden of malnutrition.

Every child has the right to proper nutrition; that’s fact The Philippines poverty

and pervasive malnutrition is not limited to families of deprived seasonal workers.

Undernourishment is endemic and increasing throughout most of this archipelago of

some 7100 islands, and is compounded by the prevalence of intestinal parasites and
gastrointestinal diseases which health workers estimate deprive youngsters of at least

5-10% of the nutritional value in food they do consume. This problem is particularly

prevalent in rural villages and city slums where many people eat with their fingers.

According to Save the Children Foundation, 1 in 3 children below 5 years old in the

Philippines are malnourished. A study by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute says

that 26 percent of children up to 2 years old suffer from chronic malnutrition, the highest

number in 10 years.

Malnutrition affects not only children’s height and weight, but also their ability to

think. As consequence, nearly 1/2 of all reported deaths are among infants and children

through age 4, and about 1/2 of the accelerated death rate among those age 5 and

younger is related to malnutrition, compounded by diarrhea, measles, and malaria

which is returning to areas where it once was almost eradicated. 3 factors critically

affect a newborn's survival prospects: the family size he or she is born into; the time or

spacing between the mother's pregnancies; and the child's birth order.

Malnutrition in the Philippines is caused by a host of interrelated factors – health,

physical, social, economic and others. Food supply and how it is distributed and

consumed by the populace have consequent impact on nutritional status. While reports

indicate that there is enough food to feed the country, many Filipino children continue to

go hungry and become malnourished due to inadequate intake of food and nutrients. In

fact, except for protein, the typical Filipino diet was found to be grossly inadequate for

energy and other nutrients. In order to compensate for the inadequate energy intake,

the body utilizes protein as energy source.

 The present economic situation of the country further aggravates the malnutrition

problem with about 28 million Filipinos unable to buy food for their children to meet their

nutritional requirements and other basic needs. While it was reported that the health

status of Filipino children improved in terms of the decrease in the mortality rates of

mothers and infants, the rising incidence of infectious diseases such as diarrhea and

respiratory diseases contributed to the poor nutritional status of many Filipino children.

Because of this, the impact of malnourishment to Filipino kids is that they will

have poor performance in education and productivity as children are too weakened or

sickly to attend school or to learn properly; health care costs of caring for those suffering

from nutrition-related illnesses; and costs to society of caring for those who are disabled

and, in some circumstances, their families as well. Malnutrition not only blights the lives

of individuals and families, but also reduces the returns on investment in education and

acts as a major barrier to social and economic progress. Let’s work together and break

this cycle. For the children is the hope for a bright future!

II. Theme and Title

“Curbing Malnutrition among Filipino children”

‘For the children is the hope for a bright future!’

It is imperative that we must know that everyone has the right to proper nutrition.

However, not all of us have the chance to have given one. Because we live in the

Philippines, where volatile economic is residing, we often see children on the streets
that are skin and bones, unlike us, who are lucky enough to have the proper nutrition;

lucky enough to have food on our tables three times a day. But even if we live in a third

world country, this shouldn’t hinder those from poor households to be given the right

nutrition they deserve.

If we don’t do something about this, the numbers will increase and we are afraid

that it will be too late. For we know that, if children continue to be malnourished then,

our country will lost its hope. For malnourishment on kids is equals to poor performance

in school leading to loss in economic growth

III. Main Focus

The main focus of this advocacy is that no child will ever go hungry again. We

must give importance to those children living in poverty where they don’t receive the

nutrient they need for the day. Let’s not turn our backs to those children in dire need.

Because our country is impoverished, wars and natural disasters such as

typhoons and earthquakes can contribute to hunger and malnutrition by disrupting

normal food production and distribution. And that’s why there are many malnourished

Filipino children. Malnutrition affects people of every age, although infants, children, and

teens may suffer the most because many nutrients are critical for normal growth and

development. Government and the like should address this immediately and although

there are feeding programs, these are not enough to feed all those children. We must

help one another because we believe that children are priceless treasures and gifts

from God, and as such, it is our conviction that the physical, emotional, psychological,
and spiritual needs of children should be amply and competently met. We consider the

care of the little ones God entrusts into our care to be a very important responsibility.

IV. Reasons for proposing the topic

We chose this topic, “Curbing Malnutrition among Filipino Children”, because

malnourishment on children still prevails in the Philippines. We found this concept is still

a common problem in the Philippines that the government and Filipinos alike have a

difficult time addressing it. And that’s why we want to know the further details about it as

malnourishment is a major health issue, thus why we want to raise awareness.

We also want to promote the right for every child to have the proper nutrition

despite of their economic status. We want to expose this issue so everyone should be

aware of what will happen if we continue to be ignorant, for the government to help and

to fully solve this lengthy problem. We want the people to see that as time goes by,

many children are suffering. We want to give them the opportunity to live a healthy life

and a healthy body to have better society leading to a better world. And lastly, we want

to see our country free of unhealthy Filipino children. It is time to look at ourselves and

take responsibility for what is going on in the world; one child at a time, one family at a

time, one community at a time, building toward a future in which we all feel rich and

contented.
“Every child has the right for proper nutrition…”

Help Stop Child Malnutrition and

Hunger