EFFECTIVENESS OF FEEDING PROGRAM TO MALNOURISHED

PUPILS OF LUCIO SUAREZ SR. MEMORIAL

SCHOOL

Prepared by:

Beoncio, Kristine Joyce N.

Gervacio, Aline D.

Mariño, Mark Brian M.

Tibio, Angel Joy A.

 CHAPTER I

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

INTRODUCTION

Good nutrition is a key driver in achieving a satisfactory level of human development.

However, malnutrition remains a major cause of mortality and morbidity among children across

the world. Malnutrition is a state wherein an individual has impaired physical function, making it

difficult to maintain adequate physical performance processes such as growth, pregnancy,

lactation, and recovering from a disease. Malnutrition is a worldwide health concern where 663

million people globally are undernourished. Globally in 2020, 149 million children under 5 were

estimated to be (too short for their age), 45 million were estimated to be wasted (too thin for

height), and 38.9 million were overweight or obese (WHO, 2021). Government and non-

government organization geared their efforts in various intervention to lessen the children’s

malnutrition. In the Philippines, 30% of the children under 5 years of age are stunted. It

considered high for its level of income and high compared to most of its neighbor. Many

children and adolescents in the Philippines are not growing up healthily (World Bank). UNICEF

states that children are increasingly suffering from poor diets, inadequate nutrition and food

system.

Malnutrition is the threat to human life where children are affected. In today’s world, we

are facing burden of malnutrition that includes underweight. It refers to deficiencies or excesses

in nutrient intake, imbalance of essential nutrients utilization. Wasting is defined as low weight-

for-height. It’s often indicating recent and severe weight loss, although it can persist for a long

time. Malnutrition not only affects the physical appearances of a children, but also affects the
mental and emotional aspects of a children. Another health concern for most of the Filipino

population iodine deficiency which has a huge impact on the learning abilities and intelligence

quotient of children. A malnourished child does perform well in the school because of the lower

mental capacity. Without appropriate nutrition, children will suffer from physical and mental

fatigue that causes difficulty in focusing on learning activities, the development of the cognitive

and behavior might process slowly. Moreover, many children dropped out from school which

may result a lack of ability and skills. From that situation more adults are unskilled and become

unemployed but the population of the children are still continuous.

Living in a country where undernutrition is considered endemic is proof that most

mothers struggle to provide proper nutrition to their children. Prevention is better than cure. In

June 2018, Former President Rodrigo Duterte signed into law Republic Act No. 11037 or the

“Masustansyang Pagkain para sa Batang Pilipino Act” (Azer Parrocha, 2018). It establishes a

national feeding program for undernourished children in public school. This law stated that the

government should provide the supplemental feeding program for public school especially in

daycare, kindergarten and elementary school. School meals include cooked vegetables, whole

grains, fruits and milk this contains nutrients like calcium and fiber.

School Feeding Program (SFP) is a targeted safety net program designed to provide

educational and health benefits to vulnerable children. School feeding program provides benefits

for disadvantaged children measured by indicators of physical growth and cognitive abilities . In

addition to reducing undernutrition, school feeding may also improve school enrollment, dropout

and attendance. (Italian Journal of Pediatrics).

School feeding programs are one of such interventions that have used schools as a

platform to contribute to the fulfilment of the nutritional needs of children beyond the first 2
years of their lives. School feeding programs are thus interventions that provide food to school

children either as in-school meals where the children are fed at school or given take-home food

rations. School feeding programs come in different modalities and are currently being used in

over 161 countries providing school meals to over 388 million children4 and receiving various

forms and magnitude of support from the World Food Programme and its development partners.

According to the World Food Programme, the number of children receiving school meals grew

by 9 percent globally and 36 percent in low-income countries between 2013 and 2020.

(Mustapha Titi Yussif1*, Vincent Awuah Adocta1, Charles Apprey1, Reginald Adjetey Annan1

and Prosper Galseku2)

The province of Oriental Mindoro joined force with the government in implementing

feeding program to engage in the fight to end hunger and malnutrition. Since the Department of

Education ordered the return of face-to-face classes to all levels of basic education, the teachers

implemented the practices before the pandemic such as taking the Body Mass Index (BMI) of a

student to be able to determine who among the students are underweight, with normal weight or

overweight. After determining the nutritional status of the pupils of Lucio Suarez Sr. Memorial

School from Grade 1- Grade 6 the population of their malnourished students are 30 out of 198

population of the pupils enrolled from grade 1 to grade 6. Even though the percentage of the

malnourished students are only 16% the school wants to continue the feeding program to help

the pupils have a nutritious and active physique. They want to help the pupils to be active in

school activities, academic learning and to avoid illness that caused by malnutrition. The

teachers observed from their malnourished pupils, they are inactive, attending class but most of
the time they don’t pay so much attention in the discussion and always sleepy and they are often

absent in class because they were sick.

The School Based Feeding Program has been adopted over the years to alleviate hunger,

reduce nutrient deficiency, improving attendance and school performance, encouraging healthy

eating habits and nourishing the growth and development of the learners. This program help us in

different ways and it has a big impact on our future, school feeding programs are making a

difference in every learners' life. This program in this school are able to address acute nutritional

demands through daily meals. These children are unable to learn without the nutrition provided

by these meals. This program not just gives benefits to the malnourished pupils but also to their

parents which they are relieved not to worry about the responsibility of feeding their children.

The parents can focus on some other activities or on their works because they know their

children will eat at school, and this provides a good diet for children, even if it is simple, which

aids in their healthy growth and development and it protects the children from nutritional illness.

The Department of Education (DepEd), through the Bureau of Learner Support Services-

School Health Division (BLSS-SHD) issues these Supplemental Guidelines No. 2 on the

Implementation of the School-Based Feeding Program (SBFP) using Fiscal Year (FY) 2022

Funds to clarify the implementation period for the Nutritious Food Products (NFP) and milk, and

define the procedure on the milk supply mapping process in compliance with Republic Act No.

11037 or the Masustansyang Pagkain Para sa Batang Pilipino Act for the current implementation

and succeeding years. The implementation period for FY 2022 funds is recommended from April

to July 2022. However, for schools’ division offices (SDOs) having issues and concerns with the

program, the period of implementation for both NFP and milk shall be extended from September

to November 2022, while payment and liquidation will be until December 2022 (DepEd Order,
Sept. 2022). DepEd was in partnership with the Philippine Carabao Center (PCC), the National

Dairy Authority (NDA), and other various farmer cooperatives and small and medium

enterprises engaged in the dairy business for the milk component.

The aim of this research is to determine the effectiveness of the feeding program in

reducing the number of malnourished students in Lucio Suarez Sr. Memorial School S.Y. 2022-

2023.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The main objective of this study is to test the effectiveness of feeding program to the

malnourished students of Lucio Suarez Sr. Memorial School S.Y. 2022-2023.

Specifically, it seeks to answers the following questions:

1. What is the current status of pupils in Lucio Suarez Sr. Elementary School in terms of:

1.1. Academic Performance

1.2. Weight

1.3. Height

2. What are the effects of implementing a feeding program to the malnourished student of Lucio

Suarez Sr. Elementary School in term of:

2.1. Academic Performance

2.2. Weight

2.3. Height

3. Is the implementation of feeding program effective?

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

This study is anchored on the following theories:

1. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory (Abraham Maslow, 1943)

Abraham Maslow first introduced the concept of a hierarchy of needs in his 1943 paper,

titled "A Theory of Human Motivation," and again in his subsequent book, "Motivation and

Personality." This hierarchy suggests that people are motivated to fulfill basic needs before

moving on to other, more advanced needs. While some of the existing schools of thought at the

time-such as psychoanalysis and behaviorism-tended to focus on problematic behaviors, Maslow

was more interested in learning about what makes people happy and what they do to achieve that

aim. As a humanist, Maslow believed that people have an inborn desire to be self-actualized, that

is, to be all they can be. To achieve this ultimate goal, however, a number of more basic needs

must be met. This includes the need for food, safety, love, and self-esteem. Maslow believed that

these needs are similar to instincts and play a major role in motivating behavior. There are five

different levels of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, starting at the lowest level known as

physiological.

This theory is related in this study because Maslow proposed a hierarchical model of

human needs, such as basic needs at the bottom and higher needs at the top. The physiological

needs include those that are vital to survival namely: oxygen, food, water, clothing, shelter, sleep

and homeostasis. In this way, malnourished students will be aware that proper nutrition are very

essential not just to survive but to have a healthy state of body and mind in order to showcase

their full potential in school.

2. Tinto’s Integration Theory (Tinto, 1975, 1987)

Tinto’s (1975, 1987) student integration model, one of the most ubiquitous theoretical

frameworks in this arena, posited that a student’s social and academic interaction with his or her

institution was paramount to the student’s decision to persist. Vincent Tinto first introduced his

concept of retention in 1975. His model theorizes that students who socially integrate into the

campus community increase their commitment to the institution and are more likely to graduate

(Tinto, 1975). This "integration model" has changed many times over the course of time. Tinto's

based his model in Van Gennep's (1960) anthropological model of cultural rites of passage. Tinto

believes students must separate from the group in which they were formerly associated, undergo a

transition, and incorporate and adopt the normative behaviors of the new group (Kuh et al., 2006).

In Tinto's theory, academic and social integration are complementary but independent processes in

a student's life. Academic and social integration leads to greater commitment to institution nd

graduation (Bean, 1983). In Social Integration, student finds the institution aligns with individual

background, values, and aspirations. It also measured by peer to peer interactions and faculty

student interactions. In academic integration, compliance with explicit norms (passing grades,

following policy in residence hall) and compliance with normative values (valuing arts over

sciences for an art student).

This theory is related in this study because in this integration theory, Tinto suggests that

learners are affected by social system and academic system of an institution or school.
3. Spady’s Sociological Theory

Spady was one of the first researchers to propose a widely recognized theory on student

retention in 1970 (Spady 1970, 77). The basic assumption of this theory is that student dropout is

best explained by a process involving an interaction between the individual student and the

university environment. In this interaction, the student’s attributes such as attitudes, skills and

interests are exposed to influences, expectations and demands of the university. The result of this

interaction will determine whether the student will be assimilated in the academic and social

system of the university and subsequently whether the student will be retained in the university.

Linked to this process are variables that promote the academic and social integration of students

in higher education. These variables are family background, academic potential, normative

congruence, grade performance, intellectual development and peer support. All these variables

are further linked to two other variables namely satisfaction with the university environment and

institutional commitment (Spady1970, 77)

This theory is related in this study because Spady’s proposed Durkheimian model both

implies temporal order and depicts the assumed direct causal connections between pairs of

variables. Unlike other connections in the model, the arrow from grade performance to dropout

decision is direct and implies an absolute condition. In this way, learning of students must be

measured through their output and demonstration of learning rather than test scores of 4P’s

(Salva, 2018).

In this Tinto’s integration theory, suggests that learners are affected by social system and

academic system of an institution or school.

 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Based on the foregoing discussions, the conceptual framework is hereby presented.

DV
IV

Status of pupils in December 2022

Status of pupils in August 2022 in
in terms of:
terms of:
Feeding
Program - Height
- Height
- Weight
- Weight
- Grades
- Grades

DIFFERENCES

The propose study is consisted of two variables: the independent variable and the

dependent variable. The independent variable shows in the diagram is the status of pupils in

August 2022 in terms of height, weight, and grades. On the other hand, the dependent variable

consists of the status of pupils in December 2022 in terms of height, weight, and grade.

Therefore, it will get the differences from before and after several months of having a feeding

program to Lucio Suarez Sr. Memorial School.

ASSUMPTIONS AND HYPOTHESIS

There are two formulated hypotheses in this study.

Nutritional Status Hypothesis

Null hypothesis ( H 0 ) : The null hypothesis states that the feeding program implemented in the

school reported no difference in the nutritional status of the malnourished pupils between August

and December collected data.

Alternative hypothesis ( H A ) : The alternative hypothesis states that the nutritional status of the

malnourished pupils has some differences between August and December.

The null hypothesis is

( H 0 ): Feeding Program = Nutritional Status

The alternative hypothesis is

( H A ) : Feeding Program ≠ Nutritional Status

Academic Grades Hypothesis

Null hypothesis ( H 0 ) : The null hypothesis states that the feeding program implemented in the

school reported that there is no significant relationship in the academic grades of the

malnourished pupils between Last academic year and this first quarter of academic year.

Alternative hypothesis ( H A ) : The alternative hypothesis states that the feeding program has a

significant relationship with the academic grades of the malnourished pupils.

The null hypothesis is

( H 0 ): Feeding Program = No significant relationship with the academic grade

 The alternative hypothesis is

( H A ) : Feeding Program ≠ There is a significant relationship with the academic

Grade

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study aims to determine the effectiveness of feeding program to the malnourished students

of Lucio Suarez Sr. Elementary School. The study is deemed to benefit the following sectors:

Teachers

The result of this study will benefit the teachers by being informed and to understand their

student situation. It will help them to recognized the changes of the malnourished students in the

class.

Parents

The result of this study benefits the parents of the students who are malnourished. The feeding

program motivate parents to make sure that their children attend classes regularly and active in

academic performances.

Students

The result of this study benefits the students by being motivated to actively attend at school. The

direct recipients of this study are the malnourished students. Any improvement of the student can

pave the way of producing better learning, develop an appreciation for their body and confidence

in themselves which motivates them.

The Future Researchers

The data presented may be a good source of ideas creating new research topic or enlightening the

justifiability of other related references. This study may also serve as a guide or reference that

will give the researchers the background information or overview regarding to the effectiveness

of feeding program to the malnourished students.

SCOPE AND DELIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY (MAY DINAGDAG AKO)

The general intent of this study is to determine the effectiveness of feeding program in Lucio

Suarez Sr. Memorial School S. Y. 2022-2023. This study limits the coverage on the

malnourished students enrolled only. This study will not cover other problems that are not

necessarily related on feeding program for malnourished students. The other students which do

not fall as part of the malnourished students are not within the scope of this research. Its main

purpose is to identify how feeding program make a big impact of change in reducing

underweight students. This study shall have the current malnourished students of Lucio Suarez

Sr. Memorial School who are receiving the food kit.

This study will cover the period from August to December 2022.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

 This study focuses only to the malnourished pupils from grade 1 to grade 6 of Lucio

Suarez Sr. Memorial School even though there are malnourished pupils in kindergarten due to

academic grade they are included. This study is less interview to the advisers of the students

caused by it is time consuming. The statistic for Academic grade will get from the last academic

year due to lack of time.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

Academic Performance - one of the affected statuses of the malnourished pupil.

Body mass index (BMI) – pupils kilogram divided by the square of height in meters or

feet. To find out if the pupils are malnourished.

Low weight-for-height –weight of the pupils is not compatible with their height.

Malnutrition – it is a condition of the pupils that affects their height, weight, and grades.

Ready-to-use supplementary foods – it is given by the government to the malnourished

pupils in public school. It has a vitamins and foods that could help a malnourished pupil.

School feeding program – conducted in public school that helps the malnourished pupils

to improved their height, weight and even their grades.

DepEd - they provide the food for the malnourished students of LSMS.

CHAPTER II
 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

The following related literature cited in this chapter are several sources of information and ideas

that helped enhance the knowledge of the researcher on how other things or phenomena are

associated to the concern of this study. Thus, these would supplement and complement to the

findings of this study.

FOREIGN LITERATURE

The Educational Benefits of School Feeding

School feeding programs can help to get children into school and help to keep them there,

through enhancing enrollment and reducing absenteeism; and once the children are in school, the

programs can contribute to their learning, through avoiding hunger and enhancing cognitive

abilities. These effects may be potentiated by complementary actions, especially deworming and

providing micronutrients. The analysis presented here benefited from early work in this area

(Levinger 1986, 1996, 2005; Del Rosso and Marek 1996; Del Rosso 1999; Bundy and Strickland

2000) and from three recent reviews (Kristjansson et al. 2007; Adelman, Gilligan, and Lehrer

2008; Jukes, Drake, and Bundy 2008), which arrive at similar conclusions about the direction of

the effects. What is less clear is the scale of effect.

Educators seem rarely to participate in these studies, and are notably absent from some of the

review teams. Perhaps as a consequence, the education perspective is seldom represented in the

literature on school feeding, and education texts seldom address school feeding considerations.

We also note that critical interpretation of cognitive and education test outcomes in some reviews

might benefit from expertise in psycho metrics and education measurement. One particularly
important issue with regard to the effect of health on education is that improved health may have

educational benefits for the child, for example, enhancing participation and cognition, but

whether this then translates into improved educational outcomes will depend upon endogenous

factors such as the quality of teaching and the availability of textbooks. Helping children to be

more able and available to learn will not improve education achievement unless it is matched by

the delivery of quality education. This review was prepared by a multisectoral team to seek to

partially redress the traditional sectorial imbalances.

School Participation. The decision to enroll a child in school and, thereafter, for the child to

attend regularly is influenced by many factors, including the perceived value of education, the

availability of employment opportunities, the direct and indirect costs of schooling, and the

availability and quality of school facilities. Food incentives offered to students, such as school

meals, or food incentives offered to families, such as take-home rations (especially for girls,

orphans, and vulnerable children), compensate parents for direct educational costs and

opportunity costs from the loss of child labor when children go to school.

Cognitive Abilities and Educational Achievement. Having brought more children into school,

the challenge is then for children to learn; school feeding programs can also contribute to this.

Poor health and poor nutrition among school-age children diminish their cognitive performance

either through physiological changes or by reducing their ability to participate in learning

experiences, or both. Short-term hunger, common in children who do not eat before going to
school, results in difficulty concentrating and performing complex tasks, even if the child is

otherwise well nourished.

The Nutritional Benefits of School Feeding

The priority in nutrition interventions is to prevent malnutrition during fetal development and the

early years of life-the most critical period for growth and development. Thus, the most cost-

effective nutrition interventions are those that target the first 24 months of life, and those that

promote maternal nutrition and thus intrauterine growth. There is substantial evidence that

investing in early nutrition has profound consequences for subsequent development. Early child

development programs show significant long-term impacts on subsequent growth and

development, including school performance. Similarly, avoidable early deficits have long-term

negative consequences.

From this perspective, providing food to school-age children cannot reverse the damage of early

nutritional deficits. A schoolchild who is short for age was stunted by inadequate nutrition at an

earlier age, and early nutrition intervention would have been required to address this. Although

the most recent systematic review shows that providing meals at schools can have a significant

impact on the growth of school-age children (Kristjansson et al. 2007), the effect is small and

probably cannot reverse the consequences of earlier malnutrition.

There are intergenerational benefits for younger children. The links between school feeding and

increased enrollment point to a positive effect on the well-being of the next generation because

both maternal and paternal education levels are strong determinants of child growth and

development as measured by stunting. The odds of having a stunted child decrease by about 4-5

percent for every additional year of formal education achieved by mothers (Semba et al. 2008).
Micronutrients. Micronutrient deficiency can occur at any age and is common in school

children. For example, estimates suggest that in Sub-Saharan Africa and in India, half of the

schoolchildren in poor communities are deficient in iron. Intervention at school age offers direct

benefits for the schoolchild, because current micronutrient deficiencies, unlike stunting and other

long-term consequences of earlier malnutrition, are rapidly reversible at any age. There are clear

nutritional benefits for schoolchildren of providing foods that have been fortified with

micronutrients. The recent Uganda studies, for example, found declines in anemia prevalence

with both meals and take-home rations (Adelman, Alderman, Gilligan, and Konde-Lule 2008). A

randomized placebo-controlled trial in children ages 6-11 years in South Africa showed that

fortified biscuits reduced the prevalence of low serum retinol, low serum ferritin, anemia, and

low urinary iodine (van Stuijvenberg et al. 1999). Similarly, a randomized placebo-controlled

trial in children ages 3-8 years in Kenya showed that iron-fortified whole maize flour improved

indicators of iron status (Andang'o et al. 2007). While ensuring the fortification of foods

included in school feeding programs presents some logistical challenges (see chapter 4), it is

very cost effective.

Deworming. Infection with common roundworms and bilharzia (schistosomiasis) tends to be

most prevalent and intense in children of school age who, therefore, benefit disproportionately

from deworming (Bundy 2005). Although it is difficult to detect changes in growth in

schoolchildren, because growth has slowed down by this age, there is evidence of growth in

randomized controlled trials, as well as evidence for some catch-up growth. Equally important,

there is evidence of significant reduction in anemia with deworming (Gulani et al. 2007; Brooker

et al. 2008). The fact that worm infections affect some 500 million schoolchildren argues that
deworming can make an additional nutritional contribution if included in the school feeding

package. Programmatic evidence suggests that deworming through schools is safe, cheap, and

remarkably cost effective (Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab 2005; Bleakley 2007),

whether implemented as a stand-alone intervention through schools or implemented at the

margins of a school feeding program.

LOCAL LITERATURE

In the Philippines, malnutrition remains a significant public health concern with a staggering 3.4

million children who are stunted (short for their age) and more than 300,000 children under 5

years who are severely wasted. This continues to be a serious child health problem, with the

Philippines being highly disaster-prone. The risk of malnutrition increases in the aftermath of

emergencies (UNICEF Philippines, 2015).

A national nutrition survey reveals that, 20 percent of Filipino children aged 0 to 5 are

underweight while 30 percent are stunted or too short for their age. The Philippines ranked 9 th in

the world, with the most number of stunted children according to a UNICEF study.

To address the high burden of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) in the country, the Philippine

Nutrition Cluster prioritized the urgent need to support the development of national protocols

and policy on the management of SAM for children under five years of age. This was achieved

through its community-based management of acute malnutrition (CMAM) working group led by

the Department of Health (DOH). The broad objective of this prioritization was to improve the

access and availability of life-saving services for children with SAM through the

institutionalization of SAM management within the national and local health systems, in both

emergency and non-emergency settings (UNICEF-Philippines, 2016).

The Department of Education of the Philippines issued DepEd Order No. 54, s. 2013-Guidelines

on the Implementation of School Feeding Programs. The DepEd Order was issued in support of

the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN) as approved by the National Nutrition

Council Governing Board through NNC-GB Resolution No. 1. S. 2012, the Department of

Education (DepEd) has advocated school feeding programs for the past years to improve the

nutritional status of the undernourished pupils and students. This Order is being issued to guide

the regional, division, and school officials in implementing school-initiated and/or sponsored

feeding programs, thereby ensuring that the objectives of the program are achieved. Department

of Education implements the School Feeding Programs (SFPS) to address the undemutrition

problem among the learners in order to improve school attendance and to reduce dropout in

schools. The SFPs may be school-initiated or sponsored by individuals, non-government

organizations (NGOs) and private companies.

According to the Philippine Ministry of Health, nearly ½ of all reported deaths are among infants

and children through age 4, and about ½ of the accelerated death rate among those age 5 and

younger is related to malnutrition, compounded by diarrhea, measles, and malaria which is

returning to areas where it once was almost eradicated. 3 factors critically affect a newborn’s

survival prospects: the family size he or she is born into; the time or spacing between the

mother’s pregnancies; and the child’s birth order. Evidence indicates that, during the 1970s, as

US aid and other family planning assistance became available, they were used most among

families in the 2 highest income classes, where reduction of family size is under way. Poverty is

the most fundamental cause of malnutrition, although many other factors contribute. Land reform

has brought security of tenure and increasingly is transferring ownership of fields to former

tenants of rice and corn lands. For the former tenants enhanced security brings greater income
and better eating for the farm families retain more of the crop. The undernourished and truly

poor of the Philippines number about ½ of the population. Although dispersed throughout most

of the archipelago, there are important regional differences. These related to marked geographic

patterns that affect fertility of the soil, length of the dry season, fortunes of predominant crops,

vulnerability to destructive typhoons, chronic warfare and other endemic lawlessness, major

debilitating diseases, and especially population pressure. Malnutrition is not a hidden problem.

The government, almost since the proclamation of 1972 martial law, has campaigned against

malnutrition. During the 1970s, the government developed a major program of expanded

production with the result that rice production expanded substantially. Even this achievement

leaves the average Filipino short by 300 calories of food intake per day. It is not jiggering with

food aid or government price incentives that will assure that future Filipinos will have enough to

eat. Only a productive revolution of rural life that also educates mothers to know what makes for

sound family nutrition will be adequate.

Micronutrient malnutrition is prevalent not just in the developing regions of the world but also in

the industrialized nations which can affect all age groups, however children and pregnant women

are those of most at risk (Allen, de Benoist, Hurrell, & Dary, 2006).

For nearly 30 years, rates of both wasting and stunting have been nearly flat. The rate of

stunting’ among children under five recorded for 2019 (28.8 percent) was only slightly lower

than the level in 2008-the prevalence of underweight in 2019 was 19 percent, and the prevalence

of wasting was 6 percent. Based on the World Health Organization’s classification of

undernutrition rates, the preva- lence of stunting in children in the Philippines is of “very high”

public health significance. The 29 percent stunting rate also places the Philippines fifth among

countries in the East Asia and Pacific region with the highest prevalence of stunting and among

the 10 countries globally with the highest number of stunted children.

Moreover, these national aggregates mask wide inequalities, with far worse outcomes in some

regions than in others. Pockets of population with high levels of stunting, sometimes exceeding

40 percent of the population, are found throughout the country. The highest rates are in the

Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM, 45 percent), MIMAROPA (41 percent),

Bicol (40 percent), Western Visayas (40 percent), SOCCSKSARGEN (40 percent), Zamboanga

Peninsula (38 percent), and Central Visayas (37 percent). In addi- tion, stunting rates are notably

higher in rural areas (30.4 percent) than in urban areas (26.4 percent), according to the 2019

Expanded National Nutrition Survey (ENNS) (FNRI 2019).

Beyond these visible anthropometric differences (stunting, underweight, and wasting),

micronutrient undernutrition-so-called hidden hunger-is also highly prevalent in the Philippines.

The most recent available data show alarm- ingly high rates of anemia both among children (38

percent among infants 6-11 months old, down from 48 percent in 2018, and 26 percent among

children 12-23 months old) and among pregnant women (20 percent). According to the 2018

ENNS, nearly 17 percent of children 6-59 months old suffer from vitamin A deficiency, of which

children 12-24 months old have the highest prevalence (22 percent), followed by children 6-12

months old (18 percent) (FNRI 2018).

School feeding in the Philippines is a tool which today effectively enables hundreds of millions

of poor children worldwide to attend school-in developed and developing countries alike. One of

the advantages of school feeding is that, in addition to enabling education, it has positive direct

and indirect benefits relating to a number of other development goals (namely for gender equity,

poverty and hunger reduction, partnerships and cooperation, HIV/AIDS care and prevention, and

improvements in health and other social indicators. (UNEP 2016).

FOREIGN STUDIES

According to Kuala Lumpur (June 21, 2014), the correlation and regression that have been

applied will be used to determine the relationship of the study between the map and the

socioeconomic problem. In this paper, a study has been made with an attempt to investigate and

identified the urban poverty area by using visual interpretation method and spatial correlation

study on high resolution IKONOS satellite imagery. The characteristics of urban poor which

categorized in poverty will be accessed based on squatter and housing types visualized from

acquired satellite images.

According to Ann (1986), confirms that human body functions best when supplemented by the

right kinds of food in the correct proportion Food is a basic need and a right for survival for all

humanity especially for children whose rights are to enjoy the highest attainable standard of

health, nutrition and education, C.R.C (1989). Food is a basic biological need, Maslow (1970)

has emphasized that human beings have a hierarchy of needs ranging from lower-level needs of

food survival and safety to higher needs. So, this should be provided before we can ask the

children to be motivated to learn. Nutrients in food are like food that functions in a number of
ways to keep the body healthy. The body should receive enough of each nutrient because foods

also vary in their chemical composition (K.I.E 1998).

Feeding begins during programme when the expectant mother eats sufficient proteins, fresh

fruits, carbohydrates and vegetables to supply enough nourishment for her and the developing

fetus. There is evidence that early quality care improved brain size, complexity and show

increase in dendrite, breathing, growth in support gland cells and capillaries (Michael and Moore

1995). Good nutrition which contains all the necessary food substances does not need to be

expensive neither does it mean all the times and all meals are balanced but simply means over

the course of several days the body needs to take enough substance to grow and stay healthy.

Nourishing foods are often less expensive than high calories food. The benefits of School

Feeding Program are far reaching. There is evidence to show that school feeding program

increase children’s educational achievement so as to improve their potential future productivity

and earnings, alleviate short term hunger which improves children’s cognitive functioning and

attention span, improves nutritional status of children by providing them calories and nutrients in

addition to their regular diet, enhance enrollment in school and better educational outcome.

These lead to better health and better resistance to infectious diseases and illnesses that would

keep children from attending school (Alderman, Hoddinott & Kinsey, 2006).

Despite the benefits of SFPs, many school going children especially from poor backgrounds are

not able to enjoy the fruits of such program. And if they do, the very programmes are not

sustainable owing to a number of challenges including poverty, managerial issues, food storage

factor and poor climatic conditions (Wanjohi, 2010).

According to Dr. Kristina Norman, malnutrition is a one of the major health challenge world

wide affecting approximately one in every five adults in developing countries. It accounts for

about 50% of childhood mortality and takes particularly severe toll among preschool children.

Chronic malnutrition during the first two years of life e.g., results in irreversible harm and is

linked to higher rates of morbidity and mortality, impaired cognitive ability and school

performance in children and decreased productivity and lifetime earnings for adults, thus

contributing to the devastating cycle of starvation and poverty. In developed countries,

malnutrition is predominantly associated with disease. It affects morbidity and mortality in acute

as well as chronic disease and quality of life is seriously impaired in malnourished patients.

Despite current data showing that approximately 25% of hospital patients are malnourished to

some extent, awareness of the problem remains low and nutritional status frequently worsens

during hospital stay. In the elderly, the problem is augmented, as older patients do not have the

same restorative capacity after weight loss as younger adults. This special issue focuses on the

various effects of malnutrition on people in developing as well as developed countries and its

implications for economic and health care systems.

Governments and development organizations devote substantial resources to the provision of

free school meals to poor children, in both less-developed and richer countries. In 2008, the

World Food Programme (WFP) operated school feeding programs in 68 poor countries,

including most of Africa (WFP, 2008). In comparatively higher-income countries of Latin

America, school feeding programs are just as common, and more likely to be funded and

operated on a large scale by government agencies (Bundy et al., 2009). And, in the U.S., the

National School Lunch Program (NSLP) subsidizes meal provision in 99% of public schools,
with participation of more than half of students (Currie, 2003, Schanzenbach, 2009). Despite the

ubiquity of school feeding programs, we know surprisingly little about their causal impact on

education outcomes, especially academic achievement. This is especially true of the mature,

large-scale school feeding programs in developed countries.

Lahey and Rosen (2010), in their research, they found out that nutrition affects learning and

behavior and suggested that diet can influence cognition and behavior in many ways, which

include the condition of not enough nutrition or the condition of the lack of certain nutrients.

According to World Food Programme 2014, hunger is one of the most pervasive and dam aging

phenomena for millions of children to day; It has far-reaching effects on the development of both

individuals and nations, Hunger negatively affects the brain development of children and

impedes their chances of educational success later on. Hunger, poverty and poor education are

interdependent. When children are hungry, chances that they would at tend school are limited,

and without education, their chances of breaking the poverty trap are significantly reduced.

Adelman S. 2001, Also opined that both acute and chronic hunger affect children’s ac cess to

school, their attention span, behaviour in class and educational outcomes. Studies have shown

that children suffering from short term hunger, as a result of skipping breakfast, for example,

have difficulty concentrating in class and performing complex tasks.

In the U.S., Hinrichs (2010) uses a 1960s modification of the NSLP funding formula to find that

it had long-run effects on school attainment.1 Using Virginia data, Fgilio and Winicki (2005)

find that schools threatened with accountability sanctions tended to increase the caloric content

of meals – but not other nutrients – and that this may have boosted high-stakes test scores. The

effect could stem from a short-run effect of glucose levels on student cognition. Using a

difference-in-differences strategy, Belot and James (2011) found that a British program that
affected the nutritional content of school meals in a single borough of London apparently raised

test scores and lowered absences.

In poorer countries, Afridi (2011) finds that a national meal program in India led to attendance

increases among girls (but not boys), while He (2009) finds that a Sri Lankan national program

led to increased enrollments, but that the increases were apparently the result of existing students

sorting between treated and untreated schools. Randomized evaluations of small-scale

interventions in very poor settings – usually WFP or researcher-initiated programs in Africa –

show some effects on attendance rates, fewer on enrollments, and from zero to small effects on

measures of cognitive ability and academic achievement.

The social and economic development of the country is directly linked with student academic

performance. The students’ performance (academic achievement) plays an important role in

producing best quality graduates who would become great leader and man power for the country

thus it is the responsibility of the country and the government to pro vide quality education

among its young citizens (Ali et.al, 2009). There are lots of factors affecting the academic

performances of students; one of the most significant factors is eating breakfast. There are lots of

researches and evidences that suggest that breakfast consumption may improve students’

cognitive function related to memory, test grades, and school attendance. Breakfast as part of a

healthful diet and lifestyle can positively impact children’s health and well-being. Parents

should be encouraged to provide breakfast for their children. Studies have shown that there is an

association between hunger, poor dietary intakes, stunting, underweight, and poor school

performance among students who did not eat break- I fast everyday (Mc-Gregor, 2005).

LOCAL STUDIES
Education is and will always be very important in building a strong foundation in one’s life. It

plays key roles as to what the child may become after years of studying. Good education is very

necessary for all to go ahead in life and to be successful. However, not all children in the country

receives adequate and wholesome education, even though the government of the Philippines

initiated different programs to make education available to everyone.

One of the main reasons why there are children who do not receive adequate education is

because of Poor Nutritional Status. In fact, it is one of the major causes of low academic

performance and productivity in primary education which may affect the physical and cognitive

development in children during their early years of life. (Does,1996). Levels of stunting,

underweight, severely wasting and overweight have remained essentially unchanged for the past

decades (FNRI, 2012). Malnutrition will stay if there is poverty.

To alleviate these problems and to address the issue of hunger and lessen malnutrition among

school children DSWD and DEPED are each allocating less P 2000 per child for 120 days of

feeding. However, not all problems of the SBFP beneficiaries can be addressed by the pro gram.

Based on Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, when the fundamental needs are fulfilled, they

do not go away, rather they motivate further. Considering that nutritional food grants given by

the school-based feeding program of the government fulfilled one of the major physiological

needs of the students, psychological needs arise. These psychological needs can be attributed to

the students’ social, behavioral, and economic problems that they encounter in their day to day

living. Considering the above-mentioned issues, the researcher was encouraged to conduct this

study to determine the social, behavioral, and economic problems affecting grades 4-6 SBFP
beneficiaries and their academic performance in the selected public schools in the district of

Subic.

The Department of Education (DepEd), through the Bureau of Learner Support Services-School

Health Division, implements the School-Based Feeding Program (SBFP) for Fiscal Year 2018, in

accordance with the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for the current year and covers all

identified target beneficiaries.

The SBFP provides feeding to learners, prioritizing the Severely Wasted (SW) and Wasted (W),

and all Kinder in selected Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN) areas. It also improves

the nutritional status of the SW/W and all Kinder (PPAN areas) learners at the end of at least 120

feeding days and ensures 100% deworming of target beneficiaries prior to the feeding activity. It

also promotes health and nutrition information and awareness among tar get beneficiaries

through the K to 12 Curriculum and its alternative modalities of education; and encourages

Gulayan sa Paaralan Program (GPP) and backyard vegetable gardening to augment the feeding

program and to complement the nutrition and poverty-reduction initiatives of the Government.

DepEd Order No. 39, s. 2017 entitled Operational Guidelines on the Implementation of the

School-Based Feeding Program shall also be used as reference in the implementation of the

program. The Department of Education will continue to implement S School-Based Feeding

Program (SBFP) nation wide in accordance with the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for the

current year and will f cover all identified target beneficiaries. The program upholds its

objectives in the improvement of classroom attendance of target beneficiaries to more than 85%

per year, and encourage learners to go to school every day. The priority target beneficiaries for

School-Based = Feeding Program (SBFP) shall be all under nourished (SW/W) Kinder to Grade

6. Health and Nutrition is integral to the total development of the child: physically, mentally,
emotionally, and spiritually. Studies showed that undernourished children perform poorly in

class. Ideally, health and education should have a symbiotic relationship, if only to get the full

benefit of education. The program’s short history has seen moderate success to develop the

learning capabilities of malnourished young children by improving their health and nutrition.

The initial results of the study were 0, discussed by a panel of DepEd officers and PIDS

researchers at a seminar held at PIDS recently. Albert and his co-researchers reviewed the al

conduct of the SBFP in eight schools across the country during school year 2013-2014. They

analyzed the results against the program’s objectives: (1) that 70 percent of the beneficiaries d

must have been rehabilitated at the end of the 100-120 day feeding program, (2) that 85-100

percent of the beneficiaries attend school, and (3) that there is observable improvement in health,

nutrition values, and behavior. The researchers interviewed the team of school parents, teachers,

parent volunteers, and DepEd staff who together handle the procurement of supplies and

finances, and conduct deworming and other complementary pro grams that enhance the results,

which include waste management, in-house gardening, and health monitoring. They were

interviewed about the program’s procedures, issues, challenges and lessons, the performance of

the children, and how they perceived the implementation and management of the SBFP. The re

searchers found out that beneficiaries and stakeholders laud the program. As a result, the health,

class attendance and performance, and social behavior of the students improved. The program,

the researchers noted, also helped cultivate “a culture of care and active participation among all

stakeholders”. Amid all the success, however, the researchers point out important challenges,

starting with data gathering inconsistencies and the lack of standard and measurement errors on

the nutrition status data have implications on the targeting ac curacy of the program as well as on

correct assessment as to whether stated goals are attained (or not),” according to the study. This
threatens to misclassify the nutrition status of children, which may cause fundamental problems

for the program. Classification not only determines the effectivity of the program but is also

crucial to building the database of identified malnourished children. In an article “The Wellness

Impact: Enhancing academic success Through healthy School Environments” (2013),

environment to which children are exposed (unhealthy foods, lack of areas for physical activities,

bullying or unsafe neighborhoods) influences how children think, feel and respond. The mind-

body connection, therefore, becomes a genuinely important concept. What we think affects our

health and vice versa: our health impacts how we think. Brain functions can be enhanced in order

to improved children’s ability to learn. Research on the area of the brain that control functions

relative to thinking, concentration and acting (or not) on impulse- a network involving the pre

frontal cortex- indicates that the school environment is key to the development of these areas.

Lahey and Rosen (2010), in their research, they found out that nutrition affects learning and

behavior and suggested that diet can influence cognition and behavior in many ways, which

include the condition of not enough nutrition or the condition of the lack of certain nutrients.

According to World Food Programme 2014, hunger is one of the most pervasive and dam aging

phenomena for millions of children to day; It has far-reaching effects on the development of both

individuals and nations, Hunger negatively affects the brain development of children and

impedes their chances of educational success later on. Hunger, poverty and poor education are

interdependent. When children are hungry, chances that they would at tend school are limited,

and without education, their chances of breaking the poverty trap are significantly reduced.

Adelman S. 2001, Also opined that both acute and chronic hunger affect children’s ac cess to

school, their attention span, behaviour in class and educational outcomes. Studies have shown
that children suffering from short term hunger, as a result of skipping breakfast, for example,

have difficulty concentrating in class and performing complex tasks.

The social and economic development of the country is directly linked with student academic

performance. The students’ performance (academic achievement) plays an important role in

producing best quality graduates who would become great leader and man power for the country

thus it is the responsibility of the country and the government to provide quality education

among its young citizens (Ali et.al, 2009). There are lots of factors affecting the academic

performances of students; one of the most significant factors is eating breakfast. There are lots of

researches and evidences that suggest that breakfast consumption may improve students’

cognitive function related to memory, test grades, and school attendance. Breakfast as part of a

healthful diet and lifestyle can positively impact children’s health and well-being. Parents should

be encouraged to provide breakfast for their children. Studies have shown that there is an

association between hunger, poor dietary intakes, stunting, underweight, and poor school

performance among students who did not eat break- I fast everyday (Mc-Gregor, 2005).

In the Philippines, about 6 to 8% of children under five years old were wasted, and about 7 2%

were severely wasted. About a third of children under five in the Philippines have stunted

growth, and a fifth is underweight (Albert, 2015). When children under five are experiencing

malnutrition, they are likely to carry this over to early childhood, which has repercussions on

learning achievements in school. In consequence, government has developed feeding programs

to reduce hunger, to aid in the development of children, to improve nutritional status and to

promoting good health, as well as to reduce inequities by encouraging families to send their

children to school given the incentive of being provided school feeding.

One of the programs that the Philippines had implemented to mitigate and improve the academic

performance of the students along with their attendance is through school feeding program. The

focus of the Department of Education which is the chief implementer of the school feeding

programs is to deal with under a nutrition or malnourished student which is very common among

Filipino school-age children. In 2012, for instance, the Nutrition Status Report of DepEd

identified more than half a C million severely wasted children enrolled in the country’s public

elementary schools (Albert, 2015).

Chronic absenteeism or missing more than 10 percent of the total school days of schooling

occurs higher in poor areas. A student being ab sent for three days in a month strongly correlates

with poor performance (Sparks, 2012). T That is three days multiplied by ten months of

schooling is equal to thirty days of absence in a the school which is more than 10 percent of the

total school days in the Philippines. Majority of a chronically absent students are impoverished.

Dealing with such daily stresses as caring for siblings, high rates of disease, violence in the

community, frequent familial moves to find employment, child labor and lack of sufficient health

and food (Cutillo, 2013).

In the theory of Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs he suggested that before individuals

meet their full potential, they need to satisfy a series of needs. The very foundation of every

individual’s need is physiological needs such as Clothing, shelter, air, water, and food. These

physiological needs are very important, if these requirements are not met, the human body

cannot function properly and would ultimately fail. Physiological needs are thought to be the

most important; they should be met first. In relation to this, a child who did not met his

physiological needs would result in a problem 1 in his study habit. If a student went to school to
study and yet his stomach is empty, academic understanding and performance of the student is

disrupted compared to a student who eats S breakfast or lunch before coming to school.

Research shows that children with minerals and vitamins deficiencies sufficient to cause anemia

are at a disadvantage academically. Food insufficiency is a serious problem affecting children’s

ability to understand and improve their academic performances (Taras. 2005).

Well-being does not only come from economic factors but also on relations with people and

relations with ideas (MacAulan & Riem schneider, 2011).

“What people are not doing is looking at positive effects of good nutrition, in particular on social

behavior,” said Raine, a Penn Integrates Knowledge professor with appointments in the School

of Arts & Sciences and Medicine. “We link nutrition not only to physical health but also to social

health and positive social behavior.” (Jianghong Liu 2016) Social interactions studied included

friendliness, extent of verbalization, active social play and exploratory behavior. A research

assistant observed every child’s success and rated these factors on a specified scale. The observer

knew that the research concentrated on child development of and behavior but was unaware of

the nutrition related hypothesis. Examining the relationship between these components after the

fact, Liu and Raine then test out a neurocognitive link or between nutrition and comprehensive

social behavior. It’s a connection undiscovered to this point. “The bigger message is giving

children good nutrition early on,” Liu said. “Not only will it enhance cognitive function but,

importantly, promote good social behavior,” which is essential to brain development and

intelligence.