MALNUTRITION REACHES AN ALARMING LEVEL

UNEDITED SAMPLE NEWS ARTICLE
By Marian Denise Glipo Basallote
IV-Madame Marie Curie


The increasing number of malnourished children in the Philippines has reached four million, as reported by the officials of the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI).

According to the officials of FNRI, malnutrition is mostly concentrated on the rural areas, specifically in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, the Zamboanga Peninsula, Southern Tagalog, Southern Mindanao, and Eastern Visayas regions. However, the said illness is also prevalent in Metro Manila, wherein 4 out of every 100 children are underweight and 2 out of every 100 children are overweight.

FNRI officials said that the malnutrition in the country only aggravates with the continual rise of food prices. Apparently, households are forced to cut down their food budgets.

Techie Mendoza, FNRI planning officer, believed that the money allotted for their food becomes insufficient and their choice of food becomes limited to a specific range.

She said that with the country’s crisis, the household’s grocery list has gotten shorter. The first thing that is removed from the list are fruits, followed by meat. Vegetables and fish remain on the list since they are sold at cheaper prices.

Mario Capanzana, FNRI Executive Director, said that they have estimated 3.7 million schoolchildren who are malnourished. Most of these schoolchildren are undernourished or have low protein, energy or vitamin intake.

He said that about 1.6 million kids are over-nourished, who are either obese or overweight.

According to Capanzana, the rate of undernourished children has already declined, but it is still not good enough. On the other hand, the rate of over-nourished children has continually risen due to the consumption of fatty foods by Filipino children.

Capanzana said that an average Filipino child’s diet consists mainly of sweets and junk foods that are high in salt, sugar and fat and only a low percentage of vegetables and fruits.

What is worse is that children avoid doing exercises and instead, prefer lounging on their couches as they watch their favorite television shows.

Capanzana said that this is an alarming issue since children who resort to this lifestyle are more likely to acquire diseases when they grow old.

According to FNRI, children who eat more vegetables tend to have higher Intelligence Quotience (IQ), longer attention span, and stronger immunity to diseases than those who do not. These healthy children are expected to lead fruitful lives and achieve success that was farfetched back then, but is now a part of their tomorrow.