North Cotabato town gives kids drinking problem

MLANG, Philippines—A local councilman has crafted a proposal that he says will curb kidney diseases among young people in Mlang town, North Cotabato province.

His proposal: Make high school and elementary school students drink a whole glass of water each before the start of their classes.

In other words, eight glassfuls if they have eight subjects during the day.

Mlang Councilor Gerardo Piñol drafted the proposal and the local Sangguniang Bayan (SB) had it turned into an ordinance.

Piñol said on Thursday that he thought of such a legislation to ensure that children get as much water as possible following an increase in renal-related illnesses here.

He said that for the first six months of the year alone, data showed that at least two dozen people had died of kidney-related diseases in the town.

Piñol, however, did not say how many of those who died were children.

“The policy for kidney care ordinance, which the SB passed on Monday, aims to maximize the water intake of elementary and high school students while in school to prevent the occurrence of urinary-related illness,” he said.

Piñol said data from the local health office showed that urinary diseases were prevalent among schoolchildren because of possibly low water intake and excessive intake of carbonated drinks and junk food.

An ordinance restricting the sale of junk food and soft drinks near school campuses has long been existing but Piñol admitted that it was difficult to “prevent our schoolchildren from accessing these kinds of food.”

He said that to make sure that the ill effects of their consumption of the so-called unhealthy foods were neutralized, children should drink plenty of water.

Under the ordinance, school administrators and teachers are given the responsibility of ensuring that each pupil or student consumes a glass of water before their class starts.

However, there is no penalty clause in the ordinance that would deal with school officials and teachers who failed to implement it in their schools.

Piñol said he was banking on “common will” for the good of this town’s children to have the ordinance implemented; that was why he had not put any penalty clause.

“If there are eight subjects a day, each pupil or student can consume eight glasses of water,” Piñol said.

There are 56 private and public schools offering elementary and high school classes here.

Piñol said that aside from ensuring that the students drink more water, the municipal health office was required under the ordinance to periodically conduct urine tests on pupils and students to make sure that they are free of renal-related problems.

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Originally posted: 5:24 pm | Thursday, July 3rd, 2014