The country remains to have high levels of child stunting with 26.7 percent or one in every four children under 5 years old being shorter for their age, the Department of Health (DOH) said Monday.

Speaking at the national launch for the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN) 2023-2028 at the Manila Hotel, Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa noted that 5 percent of children under 5 years old are wasting or underweight for a child’s height.

“On the other hand, we also have the problem of obesity among children, although this is low at 3.9 percent, pero habang tumatanda, nagiging teenager, tumataas ‘yung ating (as the child grows up, becomes a teenager, there is high problem about) obesity and overweight problem to as high as 14 percent or to 13 percent among the adolescent,” he said.

“Sa kababaihan naman, almost 50 percent ng ating populasyon, malaki ang problema ng nutritional anemia, kulang ‘yung iron sa kanilang kinakain, siguro hindi kumakain ng (Among women, which is almost 50 percent of our population, the nutritional anemia problem is big, there’s inadequate iron from what they eat, maybe they’re not eating) green leafy vegetable, prime source of iron. We have a high prevalence of anemia among pregnant women as high as 23 percent and for reproductive age, 10 percent.”

Through the PPAN, the government seeks to address all forms of malnutrition with a particular focus on stunting and wasting, obesity, micronutrient deficiencies and poor infant and young child feeding practices.

The new PPAN, which is the 11th plan for food and nutrition since 1974, sets direction for food and nutrition policies and strategies for various stakeholders and duty-bearers from the government, non-government organizations, development partners, academies, local government units, and private sector.

Herbosa said nutrition is recognized as one of the pillars for socioeconomics in the country by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.

Marcos labeled nutrition as one of the priorities of his administration as shown in the inclusion of pregnant women and children in the first 100 days of life in the Food Stamp Program led by the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

“Making sure that nutritious food is available to our citizens. Second, limiting or taxing our unhealthy foods, high sugar content, high salt content, junk foods,” he said.

“We’re converging, the DSWD, the DILG, because the implementation of this plan is really in the local governments, so we need the help of government officials. We also want to encourage the plan, more research on the nutritious foods that the Filipinos can partake of,” he added.

As the PPAN takes on the whole-of-society approach, the National Nutrition Council will organize sub-island launches in the coming weeks at the regional and local levels. (PNA)