DOH: 21.6% kids aged 0-23 months old stunted

The Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday said at least 21.6% of children aged zero to 23 months old nationwide are stunted.

From the zero to 23 months old age range, around 12.3% children are underweight, according to DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire.

“Itong 21.6% ay nagkakaroon ng plateauing kumbaga dahil for the past decade or so, ganito lang naglalaro ang mga pigura ng stunted children dito sa ating bansa. Ibig sabihin hindi nababago and we are not able to move on and progressed or ma-improve natin ito,” Vergeire said in a media forum.

(This 21.6% is plateauing because for the past decade or so, the figures of stunted children have been like this in our country. That means it has not changed and we are not able to move on and progress or improve it.)

Vergeire said one out of 10 school aged children nationwide is overweight, while one out of 10 adolescents are overweight.

Meanwhile, four in every 10 non-pregnant or non-lactating women are overweight; three in every 10 lactating mothers are overweight; and four out of the 10 adults are overweight or obese, she added.

The DOH official said apart from being a health issue, there are a lot of social determinants or social economic factors which affect the facilities and give rise to these issues.

“Ang pinakaimportante at pinakacritical na factor is poverty. Kapag mahirap ang pamilya, ang mga pamilya natin hindi nakakakain ng masusustansyang pagkain hindi rin po sila nakakapag-aral and so on and so forth. The cycle continues and they begin to produce this undernourished, this stunted, this wasted children, or sometimes they produced this overweight children,” she said.

(The most important and most critical factor is poverty. When the family is poor, our families cannot eat nutritious food and they cannot study and so on and so forth. The cycle continues and they begin to produce these undernourished, stunted, and wasted children or sometimes they produce these overweight children.)

Vergeire said among the contributing factors of overweight in children are frequent eating in fast-food restaurants and limited physical activities which may lead to an increase in non-communicable diseases.

She said the department had been employing different strategies such as healthy lifestyle campaigns, dietary supplementation programs for undernourished and stunted children, and other programs with other government agencies to address the social determinants of health.

“Mas pinaigting natin ang pakikipagtrabaho sa iba’t ibang ahensya ng gobyerno pati na rin sa local government because, as I've said, ang nutrition hindi lamang health issue it is a societal issue already,” she added.

(We have intensified working with various government agencies as well as the local government because, as I've said, nutrition is not just a health issue it is a societal issue already.)—AOL, GMA Integrated News