TACLOBAN CITY – At least 109,000 preschoolers in Eastern Visayas, one of the country’s poorest regions, were found to be underweight, an indication of various degrees of malnutrition, the National Nutrition Council (NNC) regional office here reported.

But NNC regional coordinator Carina Santiago said the number of malnourished children in the region fell slightly.
Santiago said results of Operation Timbang, a continuing program to check malnutrition, in Eastern Visayas showed that the number of malnourished children in the region fell from 20.15 percent in 2007 to 19.21 percent in 2008.

Santiago said Northern Samar and Samar, with malnutrition rates of 26.32 percent and 26.03 percent, were the provinces with the most malnourished children in the region.

The malnutrition rate in Biliran was at 18.38 percent; Leyte, 18.29 percent; Eastern Samar, 18.25 percent; and Southern Leyte, 9.20 percent.

Santiago presented the figures at a meeting on Monday of members of the technical working group on nutrition in this city.

Of the top 20 Eastern Visayas towns with the highest malnutrition rate, 10 were in Northern Samar, eight from Samar and two from Leyte. Malnutrition rates in these areas ranged from 29.25 percent to 42.85 percent.

Identified as the most nutritionally-depressed towns in Northern Samar were Lope de Vega, Mapanas, Las Navas, Pambujan, Laoang, Mondragon, Silvino Lobos, San Vicente, Gamay and Palapag.

In Samar, the most nutritionally-depressed towns included Jiabong, San Jose de Buan, Motiong, Tarangnan, Gandara, Basey, Sto. Niño and San Jorge.

Dr. Edgardo Gonzaga, regional director of the Department of Health and chair of the regional nutrition committee, said more attention should be given to nutritionally-depressed areas like Northern Samar.

Northern Samar ranks seventh in the list of top 10 poorest provinces in the country with a poverty incidence of 52.2 percent, according to data from the National Statistical Coordination Board.