DURING school year (SY) 2010 to 2011, the Department of Education (DepEd) relaunched its breakfast feeding program to address the “malnutrition problem and short-term hunger” among public-school children. For DepEd, “short-term hunger” refers to the condition experienced by children who do not eat breakfast (and walk long distance to reach school in the case of some of our students). This program was subsequently renamed “school-based feeding program [SBFP],” so as to allow our schools to decide what time to conduct the feeding that shall best address the nutritional needs of our children (and, thus, not limit the feeding to breakfast only).
The SBFP initially covered only our more or less 42,372 children, who are considered “severely wasted”, or 7.5 percent of the total number of severely wasted children identified at that time. For SY 2014 to 2015, the DepEd covers all, or 100 percent, of the kindergarten to Grade 6 pupils falling under the severely wasted category (based on the nutritional status report as of SY 2011 to 2012). For SY 2015 to 2016, with the proposed total budget allocation of P1.37 billion, we expect to cover 630,000 learners consisting of all the severely wasted and “some in the wasted categories.” According to DepEd’s Health and Nutrition Council, “severely wasted, wasted, normal, overweight and obese are the different categories if we grouped our children according to their body-mass index using the World Health Organization standards.” Body mass index, which estimates the total body fat of a person, may be considered as a good indicator to assess the condition of our learners as it considers their weight and height (and even the age). The SBFP provides complete nutritious meals to our children, following the developed standardized recipes using malunggay and a 20-day menu using locally produced food.
Our children should gain at least 300 calories day to address their nutritional deficiencies with the menu. With DepEd’s Gulayan sa Paaralan project, schools add to their menu a variety of vegetables harvested from their vegetable gardens. The schools’ Parents-Teachers Association, the Home Economics teachers or a combination of both, handle the food preparation. The feeding program is also considered an avenue to develop health and nutrition values and behavior on our learners. The feeding activity lasts for 100 to 120 days within the school and starts not later than September of every school year.
The SBFP should improve the nutritional status of our children and, thus, also improve their attendance and performance in our classes. Beneficiaries, who are not gaining weight or continue to be severely undernourished during the first three months, are referred to the health personnel for further assessment.
Aside from DepEd’s Gulayan sa Paaralan, some of the programs that complement our SBFP are DepEd’s deworming, good grooming and personal hygiene, integration of essential health-care program, and, productivity, life and values development training programs, which are implemented in all our schools nationwide.
Lawyer Toni Umali is the current assistant secretary for legal and legislative affairs of the DepEd. He is licensed to practice law not only in the Philippines but also in the State of California and some Federal Courts in the United States of America after passing the California State Bar Examinations in 2004.
He is also a member of the National Board of the National Union of Career Executive Service Officers, an organization of career executive service officers comprising the third level, or the managerial class in the group of career positions in the Philippine civil service. He has served as legal consultant to several legislators and local chief executives.
he was instrumental in the passage of the K to 12 and the issuance of its implementing rules and regulations. He is also the alternate spokesman of the DepEd.
1 comment
Good evening Mr. Toni Umali, I would like to know if there is a legal basis, a law or republic act prior to the implementation of the School Feeding Program of the Department of Education in our country. Thank you!