Six-month feeding program in city’s 10 barangays start
A SIX-month feeding program for 300 severely malnourished and underweight children in 10 barangays in Dagupan started last week.
The program was made possible with the sponsorship of multinational firms Unilever and Mead Johnson together with the CSI Group of Companies.
P1 million was allocated by the three companies to bankroll the project in partnership with the Department of Social Welfare and Development Regional Office, Kabisig ng Lahi (Kalahi), the City Nutrition Office, Barangay Nutrition Scholars (BNS) and the Department of Education.
Mead John is contributing Lactum powdered milk worth P500,000 for the milk requirement of the children for six months.
Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez, president and chairman of CSI Group, initiated the project as part of her advocacy to boost the nutrition of children in Dagupan City, noting that a malnourished child does poorly in school.
All the children beneficiaries are pre-schoolers, from five to six years old.
City Nutrition Officer Lea Aquino said the feeding is daily from 11:00 am. to 12:00 noon.
Aquino explained that the program is center-based, meaning children have to be brought to the feeding center for lunch and in no case will the food be brought home to and by beneficiaries.
“They must go to the feeding center for BNS to make certain that they are fed,” she said.
The only exception is when the child is sick and cannot go to the center, but the delivery will also be monitored to ensure that the food is given to the designated beneficiary.
The beneficiary barangays are: Pantal, Lucao, Carael, Malued, Bonuan Gueset, Calmay, Pugaro, Salapingaol, Bonuan Binloc and Bonuan Gueset.
The 300 recipient children were weighed before the start of the feeding program and will be monitored for their growth weight every two months.
Aquino said the mothers of the children beneficiaries were also taught to cook recipes based on the one-month cycle menu prescribed by Kalahi, an non-government organization assisting the DSWD.
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