3Ks Kailinisan at Kalusugan Tungo sa Magandang Kinabukasan

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Malnutrition remains one of the major obstacles to human well-being affecting all areas of a child's growth and development, including performance in the classroom. Hungry and undernourished learners are less able to attend school, and if they do, are less able to concentrate and learn.

Moving forward, there is a need to introduce nutritional gardens in the community, in school, and at home. Addressing the root causes of malnutrition is imperative for achieving sustained reductions in malnutrition. Bantay Bata Elementary School geared its efforts in various interventions that could lessen and alleviate children's suffering from malnutrition.

METHODS

The researchers together with the teachers used the Nutritional Status Report to identify the wasted and severely wasted pupils. The deworming program and the feeding program were applied to improve the nutritional status of the feeding recipients. The Nutritional Status Report was used again to distinguish if the program was effective.

RESULTS

At the end of the School Year 2019-2020, from 85 wasted and severely wasted pupils were expected to decrease to only 22 pupils. 75% of their population is expected to have normal nutritional status.

DISCUSSIONS

With the data given to the researchers, they found out that there was a large increase in the number of wasted and severely wasted pupils in the last three years. From 11 cases in S.Y. 2016-201, it grew to 85 in just a year and continued growth in the succeeding year. The absenteeism habits of the pupils also distressed the teachers and that its main cause was that the pupils were not able to have decent meals and if they did, they still could not concentrate well in their studies due to unhealthy eating style.

The beneficiaries of this project were the 85 wasted and severely wasted pupils. The teachers and school also benefitted from this project. Pupils who are well nourished are more likely to enter school earlier, stay in school, and have the ability to concentrate on lessons. The pupils learned proper and healthy eating habits, were willing to learn and concentrated in their studies more.

Child nutrition contributes to the country's overall development. Schools are not only places of learning. For most children, it is also a safe, protective, and constant environment where they are expected to develop their full potentials. This project promoted the optimum development of learners’ nutritional status.