The Negros Oriental Provincial Health Office (PHO) will be feeding malnourished pregnant mothers for three months in a campaign to address stunted growth among babies, a health official said on Tuesday.

PHO chief Dr. Liland Estacion told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) that the current stunted growth rate of children in the province is 10.8 percent.

“While this is not as high as the national percentage, it is still high for Negros Oriental, and we need to bring it down below the 10 percent average,” Estacion said.

The country’s average rate of stunted children is 30 percent.

Stunting, defined as low height-for-age, is the result of chronic or recurrent undernutrition, according to the World Health Organization. It said stunting prevents children from reaching their physical and cognitive potential.

Estacion said that three barangays have been identified with a total of 55 pregnant mothers to receive the food aid.

The recipients will be fed one meal a day or lunch, with food to be prepared by local nutrition and health workers in line with the Pinggang Pinoy program.

The PHO chief noted that many pregnant mothers do not practice proper diet while carrying a baby in their womb. Consequently, as the child is still in the womb, it already has nutritional problems that contribute to stunting after birth, she added.

A budget of PHP500,000 has been allocated for the first provincial government-initiated feeding program for pregnant mothers that will take place early next month, Estacion said.

Bivalent vaccines

Meanwhile, the coronavirus disease 2019 bivalent vaccines for Negros Oriental have already been exhausted as of this month, Estacion said.

The Department of Health allotment for the province was only 1,800 doses and all were administered to different sectors across the province.

Estacion said she hopes that DOH-7 is set to provide additional allocation for Negros Oriental. (PNA)