Senator Loren Legarda has filed a bill (Senate Bill No. 416) proposing mandatory child nutrition program in all public elementary schools and barangay day care centers in order to address the country’s worsening state of malnutrition.
Legarda pointed out that the country’s chronic malnutrition rate has increased from 30.3% in 2013 to 33.5 % in 2015 based on latest Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) data. Moreover, a study by the international organization Save The Children showed that 1 in 3 Filipino children suffers from stunting.