Private schools in the National Capital Regional (NCR) commit to help fight malnutrition in their respective schools by determining the nutritional status of their students and plan nutrition programs accordingly.  The commitment was affirmed by the 54 private schools that attended the Advocacy Forum on Nutrition Assessment and Overweight and Obesity in Schools held on May 23, 2019 at Richville Hotel, Mandaluyong City. 

The advocacy forum aimed to enjoin the private elementary and secondary schools in NCR to conduct nutritional status assessment as part of the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition’s Overweight and Obesity Management and Prevention Program.  It was attended by 114 participants composed of directors, principals, school administrators and nurses from private schools in NCR, private school coordinators and health and nutrition coordinators of Schools Division Offices (SDO) of Department of Education – NCR (DepEd-NCR) and representatives from partner agencies. 

In her welcome and opening message, Regional Nutrition Program Coordinator Milagros Elisa V. Federizo of the National Nutrition Council – NCR (NNC-NCR) emphasized that malnutrition remains to be a persistent problem in the country and what is even more alarming is the continuous increase of the prevalence of overweight and obesity among school children in public elementary schools in Metro Manila based on school weighing data from DepEd-NCR. The situation was similarly seen in the results of the 2015 Updating of the Nutritional Status Survey done by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI).  Unfortunately, there are no available nutritional status data from private schools.

“The schools play an important role in nurturing children, not only academically but also, in helping them become healthy and well-nourished for them to perform well in school. The increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity in school children is both a cause for alarm and call for action. This is why we wanted to touch base with the private schools, because we want to know if this nutrition situation is also happening in your schools”, RNPC Federizo said.

“We would like to encourage you to conduct baseline and endline school weighing and height taking so that you will be able to determine the nutritional status of your pupils and allow you to plan your nutrition program accordingly”, RNPC Federizo added. 

Topics discussed during the forum were: 1.) “The Double Burden of Malnutrition in Schools: How do we fight it?” (RNPC Mila Federizo); 2.) “Nutritional Status Assessment of School Children: How do we do it?” (Ms. Emerenciana L. Francia, NNC-NCR); and, 3.) “Instructional Video on Nutrition Status Assessment” (Ms. Anjelia C. San Buenavantura, Save the Children).

Division Superintendent Dr. Nerissa L. Losaria of Mandaluyong City Schools Division Office also emphasized in her message that poor health is linked to poor academic performance in the classroom.  

“The systematic process of collecting and interpreting data will help the Department of Education (DepEd) to make better decisions on what nutrition program to implement and how much resources will be allocated. This will make the nutrition programs in schools become more effective and appropriate to our students. With a healthy mind and body, children will perform in schools and will later become good citizens of the country,” Dr. Losaria said. 

Malnutrition should be everyone’s business. With the commitment of the private schools as new partners in nutrition and with the collaborative efforts of DepEd-NCR and its SDOs and other stakeholders in the region, NNC-NCR is optimistic that the problem of malnutrition in Metro Manila, particularly among school children, will be reduced significantly.  (TAR/NPC MEVF/NNC-NCR)