More than P204 million was allocated by the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Central Visayas (DSWD-7) to feed more than 131,000 children in the region through its supplementary feeding program (SFP) this year.
At least 4,019 day care centers throughout the region will benefit from the hot meals served during break time, Mondays through Fridays, for 120 days.
The program also covers children who are under the supervised neighborhood play as part of the government’s Early Childhood Development (ECD) program.
With SFP, it is expected that nutritional status, attendance and learning of the pre-elementary children will improve.
The parents will manage the feeding program based on a prepared cycle menu using indigenous food materials.
Other than the provision of hot meals, complementary activities like deworming, micronutrient supplementation, nutrition education, parental session, Pantawid Pamilya’s family development session, pabasa sa nutrition, monthly weighing and height taking will be undertaken.
Budget per meal is P13 per child per day. The P10 is intended for the viand, while the remaining P3 is for the iron-fortified rice.
An I-rice costs P30 per kilo and can serve 10 children at a time. DSWD-7 paid P47 million to the National Food Authority (NFA) for the I-rice.
The NFA will deliver the rice allocation to all the local government units in Central Visayas.
Meanwhile, the more than P157 million budget for the viand will be transferred to all the 131 LGUs regionwide.