BAGUIO CITY – – The Supplementary Feeding Program (SFP) in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) aims to increase the number of children beneficiaries on its 6th cycle (2016-2017) as it targets to reach 47,305 children.
The SFP, a program of the Department of Social and Welfare Development(DSWD), aims to improve the nutritional status of children enrolled in Child Development Centers (CDC) or day care centers. Hot meals and alternative meals which meet one third of the Recommended Energy and Nutrient Intake using indigenous foods or locally produced foods are served to the children during snack time either in the morning or afternoon.
The SFP provides P15.00/child per day for 120 days. Of this amount, P11.00 shall be used for the viand and P4.00 for rice per child per day. It aims to serve 2-4 years old children in Supervised Neighborhood Play, 4 year old children enrolled in CDCs, 5-year old children not enrolled in Department of Education preschool children, but enrolled in CDCs, and 5-12 years old malnourished children outside CDCs.
For this cycle, around P 85,149,000.00 has been allotted for the SFP which will cover 2,133 CDCs in the region.
“The DSWD can only provide a minimum amount, but through our partnership with the parents and the local government units, we hope to continuously see improvements in the nutritional status of our children. Through this, we are building a good foundation for their development”, DSWD-CAR Regional Director Janet P. Armas said.
In the 5th cycle (2015-2016), there are 42,592 children enrolled in CDCs. Abra topped the list with 8,772 while Apayao which has the lowest number of municipalities has 2,640 children. Benguet had 8,194 children; Kalinga, 7,126; Ifugao, 6,211, and Mountain Province, 5,145.
Nutritionist Dietitian Alitha A. Directo said they cater to anyone ranging from 2-5 years old enrolled in CDCs more commonly known as Bulilit Centers, regardless of economic status.
SFP Focal Person Elleanor Bugalin shared that for the 5th cycle, the program has posted a regional average of 64.40 percent rehabilitation rate which means that the number of children in need of nutritional intervention decreased from 3,761to 1,339 after six months of feeding. “We weigh the children upon entry in the program and weigh them again after six months. We have recorded the highest rehabilitation rate in Apayao with 81.76%”, Bugalin added. **Mark Erik King D. Guanzon & Nerizza Faye G. Villanueva -DSWD-CAR
