Sen. Loren Legarda —Photo from her office
MANILA, Philippines — No education reform can fully succeed while Filipino children continue to suffer from chronic malnutrition during their earliest years, Sen. Loren Legarda said in a statement issued on Tuesday as she called for stronger government action to fight child stunting.
Legarda called for stronger coordination among national government agencies, local government units, schools, communities, and the private sector to fully implement nutrition and early childhood development programs, strengthen maternal healthcare, improve access to nutritious food, and ensure that every Filipino family benefits from the protections envisioned under the First 1,000 Days Law.
Citing data from the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) of the Department of Science and Technology, Legarda said stunting among children under five rose from 23.6 percent to 25.3 percent, or about one in every four Filipino children, marking the first increase in the country’s stunting rate in a decade
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