THE Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) law needs to be supported by more funding for programs that affect nutrition, the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) said.
“These include food security, access to nutritious food at cheaper prices, access to health and social services, as well as nutrition-specific interventions that deal with micronutrient deficiency and other immediate causes of maternal and child malnutrition,” it said in a statement.
“We hope that this law will enable future budgets to be allocated to initiatives and resources that can be made available to nutrition-sensitive programs that will holistically address key underlying determinants of proper nutrition,” MAP said.
On May 8, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. signed Republic Act No. 12199, also known as the ECCD System Act, with the aim of closing long-standing gaps in care, nutrition, and education for children from birth to five years old.
According to MAP, the law should be anchored on strategies that optimize service delivery for children below five years.
It added that the law should also focus on educating and training parent figures on responsible caregiving and encouraging active involvement in ECCD programs.
“The MAP will welcome the opportunity to participate in the crafting of the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the ECCD Law,” it said.
Citing a World Bank study, the MAP said severe malnutrition has been a major issue for about 30 years, with one in every three children below five years old suffering from stunting.
The Philippines has the fifth-worst child stunting rate in East Asia and the Pacific, it said.
“Failure to address this national problem in an urgent and decisive manner will place our country’s future in the hands of stunted children becoming adults whose capacity to be productive, competitive, and creative is limited. That will imperil national development and progress,” it added. — Justine Irish D. Tabile