NUTRITIOUS MEAL Under the “Karinderia para sa Kalusugan ni Chikiting” program of the Malabon city government, children are provided nutritious hot meals on a prescribed cycle menu of partner-carinderias. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — It’s true: It takes a village to raise a child. And this is proven in Malabon City, where the community has made it a mission to raise healthy young people.
Malabon was once plagued with one of the highest incidences of child malnutrition, which not only causes stunting but also leads to poor academic performance and social participation. The stunting rate was 16.3 percent in 2013, according to the National Nutrition Council (NNC).
It is thus no surprise that for the last three years, the city led by Mayor Antolin “Len” Oreta III has been engaged in programs to fight child malnutrition.
“Building a healthy youth sector in Malabon is a key thrust of the city,” Oreta said. “Malnutrition has been a challenge, and one can only fight a grassroots-level problem with a grassroots-driven solution.”
Community effort
In 2016, the city government embarked on an annual 90-day feeding program for underweight children identified through Operation Timbang Plus. In the true spirit of “bayanihan,” businesses and organizations in Malabon and nearby cities donated key food ingredients for the program.
Chef Melissa Oreta, the mayor’s wife and the city’s nutrition action officer, designed the menu for the feeding program.
“There was a misconception in the community that healthy food is expensive,” she recalled. “We conducted an education campaign that one can make healthy dishes using available ingredients at a very low cost. This was important to sustain the nutrition program and bring the message to the homes of the people of Malabon.”
Mayor Oreta saw an opportunity to harness the unique culinary culture of Malabon—home to many famous delicacies—in addressing the malnutrition problem. In March 2018, the city launched a program, “Karinderia para sa Kalusugan ni Chikiting (KKC),” in which carinderia owners provided nutritious hot meals to undernourished children aged 6 to 59 months for 120 days.
City nutritionists guided the partner-carinderias with a prescribed cycle menu.
The KKC is now implemented in 21 barangays. Recently, the Oretas congratulated the third batch of KCC beneficiaries, composed of around 1,000 children and nutritionally at-risk pregnant women.
The mayor said it was “inspiring” to see the people of Malabon helping one another. he added: “Through these programs, we are able to harness our strong sense of community in using our culinary talent and resources to improve our city.”
‘Most Innovative’
The city’s nutrition programs have been cited as a pioneer in Metro Manila. But equally heartening to its people are the latest data from the NNC: The stunting rate fell to 5.84 percent in 2018 from a double-digit figure four years ago. Attendance at the feeding programs was registered at 100 percent, testament to the fact that the meals are both nutritious and appetizing.
Now, Mayor Oreta is focused on the first 1,000 days of life, in which nutrition is most critical. The city government believes that by targeting this stage in a child’s life, zero stunting can be achieved by 2022.
The programs have given the people of Malabon another reason to be proud. This year, the NNC recognized the city as the “Most Innovative in Nutrition Program Implementation and Management.” In 2017 and 2018, it won in multiple categories: “Very Satisfactory in Nutrition Program Management,” “LGU with Continuous Improvement in Nutrition Program Management,” and “Best LGU in Resource Generation and Mobilization.”