THE CITY Health Office’s Nutrition Division partnered with the City Agriculturist Office to distribute seeds to barangays so that families can grow food gardens in their homes.
“Among mga nutrition officers naga partner sila sa City Agri karon as part sa activity nato sa
nutrition month, kada barangay gitagaan sila’g seeds and ginatudloan pud sila unsaon pagtanom (Our nutrition officers partnered with the City Agri as part of our activity for the Nutrition Month. Every barangay is given seeds and instructed on how to plant),” said CHO Nutrition Division head Elizabeth Banzon during the I-Speak Media forum held last July 13, 2023.
She said they encourage all families within the city to have their own “food gardens,” which can be grown in tight spaces using containers.
Banzon said that food gardens help prevent malnutrition and cases of stunting, or failure of children to grow to the proper height, and also of wasting or low weight compared to children’s size.
Based on current data, Davao City has less than one percent of cases of wasting. However, the instances of stunting are more than three percent.
Banzon said that though three percent is considered low compared to national data, the office pushes to eradicate such cases entirely.
The top barangays with high stunting cases are Barangay Gumitan, Marilog District; Barangay Salapawan, Paquibato District; Barangay Tapak, Paquibato District; Barangay Malamba, Marilog District; Barangay Dalaglumot, Marilog District; Barangay Datu Salumay, Marilog District; Barangay Pandaitan, Paquibato District; Barangay New Carmen, Tugbok District; Barangay Baganihan, Marilog District; and, Barangay Magsaysay, Marilog District.
She said that also one of the main reasons for stunting is the lack of information by parents and how they rear their kids.
To address this, the CHO also continues pushing women to have pre-natal consultations to be informed of the importance of proper food intake and breastfeeding in the early stages of children’s growth.
“Open ang tanan natong district health centers for pre-natal open tanan nato barangay health centers for prenatal. Sa first 1,000 days tanan buntis, tanang women asikasuhon (Our district health centers and barangay health centers are open for pre-natal. In the first 1000 days [ of children’s life] all of the pregnant women, and all of the women will be given attention),” she further said.
