Liloan, Cebu, USC BSND Intern Myrill Shane A. Otadoy - To fight malnutrition in the community, the Barangay Nutrition Committee of Barangay Catarman, Liloan, Cebu started to distribute Vitamin A supplements to their 6 to 59 months old children. Barangay Catarman is one of the top 5 barangays identified with severe acute malnutrition and moderate acute malnutrition in the municipality.

Vitamin A supplementation is one of the nutrition-specific interventions to fight malnutrition. This involves treating all children aged approximately 6 months to 5 years in areas at high risk for vitamin A deficiency with high-dose vitamin A supplements two or three times per year. Vitamin A supplementation is one of the most cost-effective ways to save lives when the program is high quality and delivered in locations with high child mortality rates. 

Based on the Expanded National Nutrition Survey of 2018, Vitamin A deficiency was considered a “moderate” public health concern among children 6 months - 5 years old. In terms of a single age group, it is most severe among 1-year-old children.

The Vitamin A supplementation distribution was done in the different purok centers of the barangay together with measuring using the OPT Plus tool. It was headed by Barangay Captain, Hon. Jimmy Maglasang and Committee on Health, Hon. Elmira Cacanog, with Mrs. Gene Yebas and Mrs. Maejean Cañete, Barangay Catarman Rural Health Midwives together with Mrs. Lilibeth Trazona and Mrs. Juvelyn Cañete, Barangay Nutrition Scholars. Other Barangay Health Workers also distributed the vitamin A supplements house to a house basis. It was assisted by the Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics as Public Health Nutrition Interns of the University of San Carlos.

Infants 6 to 11 months of age should receive one 100,000 IU dose of vitamin A supplements, while children 12 to 59 months of age should receive one 200,000 IU dose of vitamin A two times each year. It is done by squeezing the oil straight into the child’s mouth without touching the child. In ensuring safety and to prevent infection, always sanitize the hands first before handling and giving the Vitamin A supplement to the children. Never force a child to take vitamin A, never force a child to swallow it, and never give it to a crying child.

Vitamin A supplementation help boosts the children’s immune system and protects them from preventable diseases and blindness. It is a national intervention to eradicate the nation’s vitamin A deficiency. Vitamin A helps the organ lungs, heart, and other organs to function well. It also reduces the total number of stunting children per year. It also reduces the cases of diarrhea and measles in the country and promotes the children’s physical growth. //