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LEGAZPI CITY: The problem of malnutrition among school children is
directly linked with the high incidence of poverty in the region.
Aiming to reduce malnutrition among schoolchildren in Bicol, Albay
Rep. Al Francis Bichara together with the Department of Education and
Department of Agriculture has established the “Modelong Gulayan sa
Eskuwelahan” project in public schools.
“The success of this gulayan sa paaralan project
is hinged on the commitment of school teachers and students to
increasing vegetable production in school gardens and, thus, help
reduce the prevalence of malnutrition among school children,” Bichara
said before the DepEd and DA officials here.
He said that to address the situation, the
government has conceived the hunger mitigation program that is aimed
at promoting food security and economic stability among the affected
families. Hunger and malnutrition affect 19 percent of 3,268,000
families in the country today due to lack of food to eat or money to
buy food.
In Bicol, grave malnutrition problems among
schoolchildren have reached alarming levels according to the data of
the National Nutrition Council. Among Bicol’s seven cities, the
topnotchers are Legazpi, located in the second district of Albay,
followed by Iriga and Naga.
The 2006 to 2007 consolidated weight and height
status of elementary schoolchildren in Bicol submitted by DepEd Bicol
to NNC revealed that there were 233,682 schoolchildren or 30.26
percent who were below normal based on weight and body mass index
(BMI).
The BMI report of the DepEd regional office did
not include pre-elementary grades. At least 141,637 or 28.2 percent of
children from Grade 1 to 4 were found stunted and 353,887 with normal
height.
The Philippine government is one of the
signatories among the 189 United Nations member countries rich and
poor that reaffirmed their commitment to the millennium development
goals that include the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger.
Despite this commitment, the local government units in Bicol failed to
fully address the malnutrition problems in the region.
Because of this, Bichara launched the search for
“Modelong Gulayan sa Eskuwelahan” in the second district to provide
due recognition to public schools both in the elementary and
high-school levels in promoting the production, marketing and
utilization of vegetables including its vital contribution to the
nutritional requirement of school children.
Bichara distributed a variety of vegetable
seedlings and garden tools to 171 participating elementary and
secondary schools covering the towns of Manito, Rapu-Rapu, Camalig,
Daraga, and Legazpi City.
The search provides awards for public schools both
in the elementary and high-school levels that have successfully
demonstrated exemplary performance in the production, marketing or
utilization of vegetables.
The search categories per school level are
communal gardening in an area of 500 square meters and urban gardening
utilizing empty cans and containers.
Bichara also encouraged the participating schools
to use organic fertilizers instead of the usual fertilizer that
contains chemicals being used by the local farmers here.
The grand winners in the landscape gardening both
in the elementary and secondary school levels will receive computer
sets.
-- Rhaydz B. Barcia |
Member 
