Gov’t urged to ensure healthy youth of tomorrow
SENATOR Juan Edgardo Sonny Angara this Monday called on the government to ensure the healthy youth of tomorrow, in response to President Marcos Jr. call to tackle the malnutrition problem.
Angara who filed his Senate bill to amend Republic Act 11037 otherwise known as Masustansyang Pagkain Para sa Batang Pilipino Act, which institutionalized the national feeding program for undernourished children in public day care, kindergarten, elementary will now include junior and senior high school students.
RA 11037 was enacted in 2018 to address under-nutrition among public school children.
Angara noted that the lack of sufficient food remains a problem among many school-aged children, “and this issue should be addressed immediately to remove obstacles to the development of these children.”
“Studies have consistently shown that hunger has a correlation to the ability of the students to learn. This is on top of the still nagging issue of stunting among Filipino children, which is why we must constantly find ways to provide them with proper nutrition in all stages of development,” Angara said.
During the time of former President Ferdinand Marcos Sr., the government pushed for the Nutribun bread which was given away at government feeding programs from the 1970 which was part of a USAid campaign against malnutrition.
Recently, a group of business leaders raised their concerns about malnutrition and the high level of learning poverty as they called for the increase level of nutrition as the key toward better learning, and growth and development of any country.
Angara is also the principal author and sponsor of Rep. Act 11148 of the Kalusugan at Nutrisyon ng Mag-Nanay Act, which aims to provide nutrition for pregnant mothers, improved breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices protection against diseases, and appropriate feeding of children who are sick and undernourished.
