Senator Grace Poe on Sunday said the Philippines should work doubly hard to achieve the new goals set by the United Nations, which includes achieving food security, ensuring healthy lives and promoting inclusive growth after the country failed to meet most of the Millennium Development Goals last year.
Acknowledging that this is a tough challenge, Poe, however, noted that it is not an impossible one.
The presidential bet said inclusive growth is also a pillar of Poe’s government agenda, which she presented when she declared her presidential bid last September.
Apart from inclusive growth, Poe is also pushing for global competitiveness and transparency in government.
“As we educate our people about proper nutrition, we must also make sure that everyone can afford nutritious food. At the same time, quality health care must be made available at the barangay level to address the needs of malnourished children and other vulnerable sectors,” Poe said.
The senator lamented that malnutrition among Filipino children and pregnant women are still evident among poor families, revealing major disparities across the country.
She said the number of malnourished children in the country is devastating: 3.6 million children 0-59 months old are underweight, and around four million are stunted, according to a Unicef report.
A report by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute also found that 25 percent or one in every four pregnant women is undernourished.
“No child must be deprived of his basic right to life and health; no mother must be deprived of quality health care. From the day of conception, we must see to it that the mother and child are nourished and protected,” said Poe.
Poe has filed two policy measures to address the challenges of hunger and malnutrition.
One of the two measures provides for free lunch for public school children, in response to the increasing number of school dropouts, not because of stiff school fees, but because of insufficient food.
To supplement the measure, Poe filed Senate Bill 2755 or “First 1,000 Days” bill to ensure that children are protected and properly nourished from their first day in the womb up to their second birthday, when they are most vulnerable.
“The most crucial period in the development of a child is the first 1,000 days from conception. Malnutrition begins at the womb. We must see to it that they are nourished and protected because damages to health and brain development suffered during this time are often irreversible,” said Poe.
Citing studies by the UNICEF, Poe said chronic malnutrition in the first two years will impair a child for life and leave him with lower chances of finishing school and becoming a highly productive adult.
