CALL To ACTION The 2016 Quezon Provincial Nutrition Situation, Facts and Figures
CALL To ACTION The 2016 Quezon Provincial Nutrition Situation, Facts and Figures
ACTION
The 2016 Provincial
Nutrition Situation,
Facts and Figures
2013-2016................................................................................................................................................................................. 37
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This document was made possible by the contributions and support of the Provincial Nutrition Action Office
staff and personnel.
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ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
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INTRODUCTION
Quezon is considered as one of the under nutrition stricken province in the Region.
Economic development is dependent on agricultural improvement hence under nutrition is
still a problem of Local Government Units. Quezon, as sparsely populated at 225 persons
per sq. km with a total population of 2,122,830 has 59.7% of food insecure1 households.
Also, 79%2 of the total population resides in the rural areas which have limited access to
health and nutrition services of the local government units. Hence, malnutrition is a major
problem in the province.
In 2016, there are 50,826 stunted and severely stunted 0-71 months pre-school children as
indicated in the OPT results of the Provincial Nutrition Action Office while 33.9%
prevalence was indicated in the FNRI National Nutrition Survey. It is more likely to say
that 3 out of 10 pre-school children in Quezon province are stunted. This alarming data
coincides with the national picture of 33.4% stunting rate. Also, it was found out that
49.7% of these stunted children came from the poorest sector of our society1.
Population in Quezon increased by 15% in the last 10 years. Growth rate in the province is
registered at 1.61 in 2010. This gradual increase indicates high demand of food
commodities that affects nutritional status. As reported by FNRI, CALABARZON had the
lower total food intake when compared to the national estimate 1. That’s why only 38.5 of
children ages 6-23 months meet the Minimum Dietary Diversity (MDD 3) in 2015.
Although under nutrition prevalence significantly declined on the past year, but the
magnitude rises, still, there is a long way to go to achieve zero malnutrition in the
province.
The aim of the author is to publish this report annually to highlight the situation and focus
the attention of the readers to the affected sectors, particularly children ages 0-71 months.
This will also provide broad overview of the status of nutrition in Quezon province
particularly.
1
DOST-FNRI (2015) Regional Dissemination Forum: 2015 updating of the Nutritional Status of Filipino
4
2
Philipine Statistics Agency (2015) Quezon Quickstat 2015
3
MDD-Proportion of Children 6-23 months of age who receives foods from at least 4 food groups.
The causes of nutritional problems require a clear understanding of interrelationships
between health, agricultural, social, economic and political factors in order to develop
multisectorial programmes. Recognizing these problems starts here. Identifying who,
where and how many are affected by malnutrition, brings the ball game to program
implementers.
Disclaimer: All data presented in this document came from the Operation Timbang Plus results done by Barangay Nutrition
Scholars submitted to the Provincial Nutrition Action Office. However for comparison purposes, the author will associate data set
from OPT and data set from FNRI’s 2015 National Nutrition Survey. All information presented herein is factual. Stated opinions
are those of the author and are not representative or endorsed by the Provincial Government of Quezon.
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PROVINCIAL NUTRITION SITUATION IN SUMMARY
Figure 1
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TRENDS ANALYSIS ON DIFFERENT NUTRITION INDICATORS
Operation Timbang (OPT) Plus is the annual weighing and height measurement of all pre-
schoolers 0-71 months old or below six years old in a community to identify and locate the
malnourished children. Data generated through OPT Plus are used for local nutrition
action planning, particularly in quantifying the number of malnourished and identifying
who will be given priority interventions in the community. Moreover, results of OPT Plus
provide information on the nutritional status of the pre-schoolers and the community in
general, thus, providing information on the effectiveness of the local nutrition program4.
The graph shows the trend on OPT coverage in Quezon Province over a period of eight
years from 2009 to 2016. The vertical axis on the graph shows the percentage coverage
while the horizontal axis shows the years. The red horizontal line indicates the ideal OPT
coverage in every Local Government Unit. 7 out of 8 years have not met the ideal
coverage. 2009 with 89% is the only year which the province have achieved the above
required OPT coverage. 2013 with 66% is the year with the lowest coverage of OPT+
followed by year 2016 with 66.61%.
100% 89%
PERCENTAGE COVERAGE
79% 78%
80% 73% 73% 71%
66% 66.61%
60%
40%
20%
0%
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Table 1
The OPT target is computed based on the most recent population census of the Barangay.
Population is multiplied by 16.2% to arrive at the estimated (target) number of pre-
schoolers to be weighed.
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4
National Nutrition Council (2015) Operation Timbang Plus. http://www.nnc.gov.ph/plans-and-
programs/philippine-food-and-nutrition-surveillance-system/operation-timbang-plus
8 YEARS TREND ON UNDERNUTRITION PREVALENCE AMONG PRE SCHOOL
CHILDREN IN QUEZON
The graph shows the 8 years declining trend of the under nutrition prevalence among pre-
school children in Quezon province. The vertical axis corresponds to the percentage
prevalence rate while the horizontal axis indicates the years of gathering data. The highest
indicated prevalence was 17.92 percent in 2009 in comparison with the lowest prevalence
of 9.32 percent in 2016. 8.6 percent is the mean difference from 2009 to 2016 with an
average annual decrease of 1.075 percent. One can notice a dramatic decline on the
prevalence rate between the years 2009 and 2010 and a steady decrease from 2010 to 2016
respectively.
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17.92
PREVALENCE RATE
15
0
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Table 2
Globally, under nutrition contributes to increasing number of deaths among children under
5 years old. In the Philippines based on the FNRI data, under nutrition prevalence posed at
21.5% while 19% is reported in CALABARZON. The data covered in the graph presented
is based on the provincial OPT data of 2016. Although the data suggest slight improvement
in the past years there are no correlation studies that will analyse that all improvement are
based on the programs and policies introduced by local government units. However it is
more likely to perceive, that these improvements are due to the fact that programs are
indeed effective in reducing the under nutrition prevalence rate. What is evident
nevertheless, is that the critical level of under nutrition is entering now in the single digit
format which is actually a better perception of improvement.
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COMPARATIVE TREND ON THE PROVINCIAL PREVALENCE OF
MALNUTRITION AMONG PRE SCHOOL CHILDREN 2013-2016
There are three graphs in the chart. The figure breaks down the annual prevalence rate of
under nutrition, wasting and stunting in a four year period from 2013-2016. Vertical axis
demonstrates the prevalence rates of the three nutritional statuses while the horizontal axis
indicates the past 4 years. Stunting has the highest prevalence rates among the three,
followed by stunting while wasting has the lowest rates.
30 27.64
26.08
25
20.61
PREVALENCE RATE
20 16.17
5
6.11 7.02 6.34
0 3.6
2013 2014 2015 2016
Table 3
Only the under nutrition prevalence has a marked a steady decline in the last 4 years. All
three rates in 2014 has significant decline in their prevalence rates. However, both stunting
and wasting had a substantial increase peaking at 27.64 and 7.02 respectively in the
following year. However, both rates increased again and peaked in 2015. It is noted that
the wasting and stunting rates are all time high in 2015. Nevertheless, from 2015-2016 all
prevalence rates show steady decline leaving at 26.08 stunting rate, 9.32 under nutrition
rate and 6.34 wasting rate.
The declining trend shows that decreasing prevalence rates in all categories means
improving nutritional statuses among pre-schoolers. At the present rate of progress, it will
take many years to reduce malnutrition among children province wide. However, it is
projected that nutritional status will improved. As indicated by WHO in 2004, an overall
improvement in the global situation is anticipated. By calculating the global prevalence
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rate on under nutrition from 1990 to 2015, indeed there is a significant reduction of global
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underweight from 26.5 in 1990 to 17.6 in 20155. Hence, the worldwide trend and the
national trend coincide with the decreasing prevalence in Quezon.
In wider view, as reported by the NNC regional Office, Quezon has the highest prevalence
rates in the region ranking number 1 in all categories while FNRI determines that the
province has under nutrition prevalence of 26.1, stunting with 33.9, wasting with 7. 1.
The graph shows the magnitude of undernourished, wasted and stunted children ages 0-71
in Quezon province in the last 4 years from 2013 to 2016.
60,000 56,430
52,311 50,826
MAGNITUDE OF AFFECTED CHILDREN
50,000
40,903
40,000
30,000 24,346
22,419 21,957
18,156
20,000
10,000 14,337
12,130 11,668 12,357
0
2013 2014 2015 2016
Table 4
Vertical axis demonstrates the number of affected children while the horizontal axis
indicates the years. Stunting has the largest number of affected children while wasting has
the lowest. There are fluctuations in the number of affected children in the last years. Both
stunting and wasting has increasing trend from 2013 up to 2015 and then a sudden
decrease in the last year. However, under nutrition has over all decreasing trend only
peaking at 1,927 in 2014 more than the previous year.
10
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de Onis M, Blössner M, Borghi E, Frongillo EA, Morris R. (2004) Estimates of Global Prevalence of
childhood underweight in 1990 to 2015, Journal of American Medical Association. 2004;291:2600
The information that the table showed, decreasing trend in the most recent years, is
regarded still as a positive development. However, one cannot deny the fact that all of
these data are pointing a problem not only in the province but also in the national and
global setting. As reported by the NNCRO, all the rates presented in the table were the
highest among the 5 provinces of CALABARZON.
The graph shows the magnitude of obese and overweight children ages 0-71 in Quezon
province from 2013-2016. One can notice the erratic changes in the number of children for
the previous years. The intermittent changes came between the years 2013, 2104 and
2015. However, in 2016 all three statuses came down by a 15-24%.
8,000 7,222
7,000 6,337
5,882
6,000
PREVALENCE RATE
4,530
5,000 4,139 5,839
4,000 3,175 3,409
4,551
3,000
2,000 2,636 752
1,000
0 638
2013 2014 2015 2016
OVERWEIGHT (Weight for Age OBESE OVERWEIGHT (HEIGHT/LENGTH FOR WEIGHT)
Table 5
This data also proves the increasing number of overweight and obese children as stated in
the FNRI‘s National Nutrition Survey, 5 out of 10 preschool children are overweight for
their height in CALABRZON. In Quezon, the prevalence of obese and overweight is 2.2
lower than the Philippine average of 3.9. However, this significant data coincides also with
the OPT data of Quezon province which will be presented further in this document.
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GENDER CLASSIFICATION OF WEIGHED PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN FROM 2013-
2016
The figure illustrates the two gender classification among children weighed in 4 years.
Absolutely there are more pre-school
males than females who are weighed
in the last four consecutive years.
2016 100,484 94,353
This also accords with the vital
statistics6 of Quezon with more male
births than females by .08% in 2013.
2015 105,491 98,686
2014 has the highest weighed
children in both males and females
category accumulating to 218,596
2014 112,149 106,447 combined. 2016 has the lowest
weighed children in both males and
females category with 194,837
2013 101,911 96,604 children combined.
Malnutrition can be defined as a state of nutrition where the weight for age, height for age
and weight for height indices are below -2 Z-score of the CGS reference. The worldwide
malnutrition estimation rates indicate that 35.8% of preschool children in developing
countries are underweight, 42.7% are stunted, and 9.2% are wasted7. Currently the World
Health Organization recommends the use of Z-score or Standard deviation (SD) system to
grade under nutrition of children. This method measures all three indices which are
stunting, wasting, underweight. In this document, classification of nutritional status,
prevalence, percentages and magnitude will be presented.
The graph below shows that among the 1.8 Million population of Quezon Province
(represented by the green area) there should have 292,484 children ages 0-5 years of age
which is represented by the beige area. However, out of this target number only 66% or
194,838 of the target children have been weighed as represented by the orange area. 12
6
Philippine statistics Agency (2016) Quezon Quickstat.
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Müller O, Krawinkel M. Malnutrition and health in developing countries. CMAJ. 2005;173:279–286. doi:
10.1503/cmaj.050342
TOTAL NUMBER OF PRE SCHOOL CHILDREN
Target population is the group WEIGHED IN 2016
estimated based on the
computation established by the
National Nutrition Council set at ACCES
Children
16.2% of the total population. 194,8
estima
sc
TARGET POPULATION
Accessible population is the group Estimated Number of Pre
School Children ages 0-71 ;
that are measured in actuality. 292,484; 14%
QUEZON POPULATION ;
1,805,458; 86%
Figure 3
The weighed children are very much smaller compared to the target population. As
presented also in table 1, only 66.61% children are weighed out of the total target
population in 2016. This is in concurrent with the OPT results of the region at 68.7%. With
the low coverage of the OPT, this only shows that there are identified valid factors
affecting the operation Timbang Plus. Physical limitations of the nutrition workers,
financial constraints and geographical isolated locations are some of the reasons of not
achieving the required coverage in the province. It is also noteworthy that the target
population across the board is higher than the actual population of children to be weighed.
This is in reference to table 7, ranking of municipalities by percentage of OPT coverage.
GENDER CLASSIFICATION
The graph shows the gender difference
102,000
percentage among the weighed pre-school
100,000
100,484 children. Out of the total children weighed,
98,000
52%
13
94,353
92,000
48%
based on the annual trend of weighed re-
90,000
BOYS GIRLS
school children, there are more males than females.
The table shows the ranking of municipalities based on the highest percentage of Operation
Timbang Plus coverage in 2016. Only six (6) municipalities have reached the necessary
80% and above OPT coverage for the year. 33 municipalities did not reached the required
OPT coverage.
Jomalig posed at number 1 rank has 99.59% OPT coverage followed by San Francisco
(90.93%), San Antonio (86.89%), Agdangan (83.51%), Perez (80.95%), Calauag
(80.43%), Mauban (76.415), Dolores (76.41%), Tiaong (75.71%) and San Andres
(74.54%). on the other hand Infanta has the lowest OPT coverage with 51.28%.
This reference points are clearly stated in the CGS used by different nutrition workers in
the locales.
2% 2%
7%
NORMAL
UNDERWEIGHT
SEVERELY UNDERWEIGHT
OVERWEIGHT
89%
Figure 3
It is clear from the information given in this pie chart, out of the total 194,837 weighed
kids in this category (weight-for-age), the large blue area resembles 89% or 173,277
children with normal weight. 7% or 13,852 are underweight, 2% or 4,299 severely
underweight while 2% or 3,409 are overweight. This only shows that there are more kids
with normal weight based on their age in Quezon Province.
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8
DEFINITION OF INDICATORS. UNICEF. ttps://www.unicef.org
WEIGHT-FOR-AGE (UNDERNUTRITION) GENDER CLASSIFICATION
There are more boys than girls weighed in this category. 52% or 97,138 are boys while
48% or 91,369 are girls.
GIRLS
BOYS
48%
52%
Figure 4
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GENDER CLASSIFICATION AND MAGNITUDE OF PRE SCHOL CHILDREN WITH NORMAL WEIGHT
PER AGE BRACKET
BOYS GIRLS
Figure 5
Figure presents the gender classification in connection with the magnitude of weighed
children with normal weight-for-age based on the identified age brackets. The 48-59
months age bracket has the largest number with normal weight-for-age both in males and
females with 15,704 and 14,762 children respectively. On the other hand, the 6-11 months
age bracket has the fewest number of children with normal weight in both males and
females category.
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GENDER CLASSIFICATION AND MAGNITUDE OF OVERWEIGHT PRE SCHOOL CHILDREN PER AGE
BRACKET
BOYS GIRLS
Figure 6
The bar chart gives information about the most number of overweight children in the
identified age brackets in months in connection with their gender classification. There are
more overweight children in the 0-5 month’s age bracket in both the males and females
category. On the other hand, the boy’s 48-59 age brackets has the smallest number of
overweight children while the 60-71 months age bracket is the lowest in the girls category.
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GENDER CLASSIFICATION AND MAGNITUDE OF UNDERWEIGHT PRE SCHOOL CHILDREN PER AGE
BRACKET
BOYS GIRLS
Figure 7
60-71 months old age bracket has the largest number of underweight in the boys’ category
with 1,574. While 48-59 months old age bracket has the largest number in the girls’
category with 1,501. The 0-5 month’s old age bracket has the smallest number of
underweight children in both categories.
0-5 MONTHS 93 86
BOYS GIRLS
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Figure 8
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12-23 months old in boys has the largest number of severely underweight children while
the 60-71 months has the largest number in the girls. O-5 months has the smallest number
in both boys and girls category with 179 in total.
Table 8 Table 9
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9
Assessment based on the 2015 ranking.
The two tables presents the ranking of municipalities with
highest prevalence of under nutrition and the ranking of
municipalities with largest number of UW and SUW Pre-
school children in Quezon province in 2016. Both tables
19/20
Municipalities with
demonstrate different municipalities in the province based on
the variables presented.
highest prevalence
of under nutrition
Table 8 identifies the ranking of municipalities which has the in CALABRZON are
upmost prevalence rates. The left most column identifies the in Quezon.
ranked followed by the name of the municipality then the
prevalence rate accumulated in 2016 and the comparative analysis based in the 2015
ranking.
Burdeos ranked first with 22.15 prevalence rate and they stayed in the position since 2015,
followed by San Narciso with 20.67% which moved upward from being ranked 4 in 2015.
Third spot is the municipality of Jomalig with 20.33% which came down from the second
spot in 2015. Fourth is Buenavista with 18.19% moving up from 8th place, tailed by Polillo
with 15.03%. Agdangan has the lowest prevalence rate at 1.71% followed by Atimonan
with 3.71% and Alabat with 3.75% There are 3 municipalities which did not change spot
since 2015 these are the municipalities of Burdeos, General Luna and Dolores. Moreover,
16 municipalities moved upward while 20 moved downward on their previous spots.
______ has the largest leap moving upward in ____ levels. This only connotes that the
under nutrition prevalence is getting worst. On the other hand, the municipality of
_____________ has the greatest improvement moving ___ level downwards. All top 19
municipalities are included in the regions’ nutritionally depressed municipalities list.
Table 9 presents the municipality with the most number of identified underweight and
severely underweight pre-schoolers in 2016. Lopez has the most number with 1,383
followed by San Narciso (1,121), Candelaria (975), San Francisco (953), Gumaca (920),
Sariaya (878), Calauag (852), Catanauan (773) Tagkawayan (683) and Burdeos on top 10
with 676. Furthermore, the municipality of Agdangan has the smallest number with only
29 identified UW and SUW followed by Alabat with 71 and Plaridel with 78.
CHILDREN WEIGHED
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This section determines the height/length-for-weight nutritional classification among pre-
schoolers. This indicates the wasting (Moderate to severe) which has below minus two
standard deviations from median weight for height of reference population.10
3%
3%
3%
4%
NORMAL
WASTING
SEVERELY WASTING
OBESE
OVERWEIGHT
87%
Figure 9
The figure shows the relative size distribution of nutritional classification among children
in the height/length-for-weight category. Out of the total 178,335 weighed kids in this
category 87% or 155,545 children are with normal height/length-for-weight represented
by the blue area, while 4% or 7,423 are wasted (orange), 3% or 4,934 severely wasted
(gray), 3% or 4,551 obese (yellow) and 3% or 5,882 are overweight (navy blue).
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10
DEFINITION OF INDICATORS. UNICEF. ttps://www.unicef.org
HEIGHT/LENGHT-FOR-WEIGHT (WASTING) GENDER CLASSIFICATION
GIRLS
48% BOYS
52%
Figure 10
The figure displays the gender distribution among pre-schoolers weighed in the
height/length-for-weight category. Among 178,335 children there are 48% or 86,353 girls
and 52% or 91,982 boys.
BOYS GIRLS
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Figure 11
The figure illustrates the gender distribution among pre-schoolers weighed in the
height/length-for-weight category with normal nutrition classification. Among 178,335
children there are 48% or 86,353 girls and 52% or 91,982 boys. It can be seen that the 48-
59 months old in both categories has the largest number with 15,288 boys and 14,707 girls.
On the other hand, the age bracket 0-59 months old has the smallest number in boys while
6-11 months old has the smallest number in females.
BOYS GIRLS
Figure 12
The figure displays the gender distribution and magnitude of overweight children in
different age brackets in the height/length-for-weight category. There are more overweight
boys than girls in this category. 0-5 months old has the most number of overweight boys
with 567 while the 12-23 months old age bracket has the most number with 577. the 60-71
months old age bracket has the least number in both categories with only 457 children
combined. 24
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GENDER CLASSIFICATION AND MAGNITUDE OF OBESE (HEIGHT/LENGHT-FOR-WEIGHT) PRE
SCHOOL CHILDREN PER AGE BRACKET
BOYS GIRLS
Figure 13
The graph represents the magnitude of obese children in 2 categories ranked based on age
brackets. Again, there are more obese boys than girls and most of them can be found in the
0-5 month’s old bracket in both categories with 528 boys and 445 girls. Moreover, the least
numbers are in the 60-71 months age bracket with only 214 boys and 84 girls.
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GENDER CLASSIFICATION AND MAGNITUDE OF WASTED PRE SCHOOL CHILDREN PER AGE
BRACKET
BOYS GIRLS
Figure 14
It highlights the proportions of wasted boys and girls in each age bracket. There are more
wasted boys than girls in his nutritional status classification. The most number of wasted
males can be found in the 12-23 months old age bracket with 786. While 24-35 months old
has the most number of wasted girls with 700. The least numbers can be found in two
distinct age brackets 60-71 month old in boys with 267 and the 6-11 months old in girls
with 276.
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GENDER CLASSIFICATION AND MAGNITUDE OF SEVERELY WASTED PRE SCHOOL CHILDREN PER
AGE BRACKET
BOYS GIRLS
Figure 15
There are more severely wasted boys than girls as represented by this figure. In
comparison, there are 2,945 boys while 1,989 are girls. It also indicates that the most
number of severely wasted boys are found in the 24-35 months old age bracket while the
12-23 age brackets has the largest SW girls. However, the 60-71 months old has the least
number with only 198 boys and 89 girls.
The table specifies the ranking of municipalities according to the highest prevalence rates
and most number of wasted and severely wasted pre-schoolers of Quezon province in
2016. Table 10 presents the prevalence rate ranking while table 11 presents the magnitude
ranking.
Municipality of San Narciso has the highest wasting prevalence at 12.2% followed by
Buenavista with 11.84, Guinayangan with 10.03, Macalelon with 9.8 and Pitogo with
9.37%. On the contrary, General Nakar has the lowest prevalence with 0.04% followed by
San Antonio with 1.13 and Alabat with 2.22%. Out of the 39 locales only the municipality
of Infanta does not have submitted data which presents the wasting of children in the area.
In total, 6.93% is the wasting prevalence of Quezon province recorded in 2016.
Moreover, the top 5 municipalities with most number of wasted and severely wasted
children are Sariaya, Candelaria, Tiaong, Gumaca and San Francisco in descending order.
There are identified 1,014, 815, 712, 676 and 671 children respectively. While the
following have the least number with General Nakar reported 1 case, Sampaloc with 35
cases and Alabat with 42 cases. Again Infanta did not submit pertinent data. In total,
Quezon province has 12,357 wasted and severely wasted children.
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Both data when compared shows different indicative points. Only the municipalities of
Alabat and General Nakar remained in the same ranks in the two tables. This only shows
that the locales with high prevalence rate do not necessarily be the municipality with the
most number of cases.
4%
10%
NORMAL
17% STUNTED
SEVERELY STUNTED
TALL
69%
Figure 16
Moderate and severe stunting has below minus two standard deviations from median
height for age of reference population11. The slices of the pie chart indicate the distribution
percentage of different categories in the height-for-age nutritional classification among
Quezonian pre-schoolers in 2016.
Out of the total 188,507 weighed kids in this category (height-for-age) 69% or 131,035
children are with normal height-for-age which is represented by the blue color, while 17%
or 31,765 are stunted, 10% or 19,061 are severely stunted while the remaining 4% or 6,646
are tall.
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11
DEFINITION OF INDICATORS. UNICEF. ttps://www.unicef.org
HEIGHT-FOR-AGE (STUNTING) GENDER CLASSIFICATION
GIRLS
BOYS
48%
52%
Figure 17
This figure represents the distinctive division of two genders in the height-for-age
category. There are more boys than girls measured with 52% of the boys versus 48% of
girls. This accumulates to 97,138 boys and 91,369 girls.
GENDER CLASSIFICATION AND MAGNITUDE OF PRE SCHOL CHILDREN WITH NORMAL HEIGHT-
FOR-WEIGHT PER AGE BRACKET
BOYS GIRLS
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Table 12
The illustration shows the gender and magnitude distribution in different age brackets of
pre-school children with normal height. The vertical axis corresponds to the age brackets
provided, while the horizontal axis denotes the genders of the children. The corresponding
numbers per bracket are indicated in the inside end of each gender.
The 48-59 months old age bracket has the most number on both genders. Record shows
that the most number are 11,938 boys and 11,257 girls. While the 6-11 months old age
bracket has the least number with 5,403 boys and 5,335 girls. In total, there are more boys
than girls with normal height in this category.
GENDER CLASSIFICATION AND MAGNITUDE OF TALL PRE SCHOOL CHILDREN PER AGE BRACKET
48-59 MONTHS 50 52
60-71 MONTHS 30 42
BOYS GIRLS
Table 13
Graph presents the gender classification and magnitude of tall pre-school children in
different age brackets. Record shows that there are tall boys than girls who are under 5
years old.
In this figure, it clearly shows that children are more likely to be tall based on the height-
for-weight classification during their first 2 years. There are more tall children in the 0-5
months old age brackets in both genders while the 60-71 months old age bracket has the
least number with 30 only boys and 42 girls.
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GENDER CLASSIFICATION AND MAGNITUDE OF STUNTED PRE SCHOOL CHILDREN PER AGE
BRACKET
BOYS GIRLS
Table 14
Table___ presents the difference between gender and magnitude in different age brackets
among pre-schoolers in 2016. There are more stunted children in the 48-59 month’s age
bracket in both the boys and girls category. On the other hand, the 0-5 months old has the
least number of stunted children with 577 boys and 398 girls.
One can notice that among the indicated age brackets, stunting came in at the 12-23
months old bracket sustaining the numbers until the 60-71 age brackets. More so, both 0-5
and 6-11 has the smallest numbers among all the age brackets.
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GENDER CLASSIFICATION AND MAGNITUDE OF SEVERELY STUNTED PRE SCHOOL CHILDREN PER
AGE BRACKET
BOYS GIRLS
Table 15
The bar chart gives information about the most number of severely stunted children in the
identified age brackets in months in associating it in their gender. There are more
severely stunted children in the 12-23 months old age bracket in both the males and
females category. 2,390 boys and 1,654 girls are recorded. On the contrary, the 0-5 months
old age bracket has the least number with 394 boys and 301 girls.
In total there are more severely stunted boys than girls in this nutritional classification.
Furthermore, it is noticeable that the severely stunting is prominent among children 1 year
old to five.
The tables present the ranking of municipalities in two categories. One is the prevalence
rate and the other is the magnitude of affected children.
Table 6 shows that the municipality of Burdeos has the highest prevalence rate in stunting
with 40.76% higher than the provincial prevalence of 26.08%. Followed by Buenavista
with 39.71, Jomalig with 38.86%, General Luna with 38.04 and Pitogo with 37.79%. On
the contrary, General NAkar ranked with the lowest prevalence rate at 7.24 followed by
Agdangan with 7.24 and San Antonio with 8.24.
Table 6 presents the ranking of municipalities with the largest number of stunted and
severely stunted children in the province. Rank 1 is the municipality of Tiaong with 3,567,
followed by Calauag with 2,861, Mauban with 2,770, Lopez with 2,629 and Sariaya with
2,566. On the other hand, Agdangan has the lowest number of stunted and severely stunted
children with 142, followed by Alabat with 187 and General Nakar with 188. Infanta for
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the last 3 years did not submit pertinent data regarding stunting.
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Stunting data play a large role in shaping Quezon province statistics. It is identified that 3
out of 10 pre-schooler weighed in Quezon are stunted. It also connect with the data from
FNRI which posed at 33.9% in 2015. Moreover, this coincides also with the declaration of
the NNC regional office that Quezon has the highest prevalence in the region with
______%. These figures should be viewed in caution because stunting is becoming one of
the major problems globally.
20 22.94
20.39
15
14.29
10 13.1
0
2013-2014 2014-2015 2015-2016 2016-2017
Table 18
The graph shows the 4 year trend of the provincial prevalence rate of school children in
Quezon province. It clearly shows that within a span of four years, there has been a striking
reduction of the provincial prevalence from 22.94% in 2013 down to 14.29% in 2016.
The vertical axis displays the prevalence rates while the horizontal axis shows the four
academic years. One can notice that from academic years 2013 and 2015 there’s a steady
decline of the prevalence rates. From 2013-2014 there’s a reduction of 2.55%, but the 2015
academic year foremost has the major reduction of 7.29%. However on the following year,
a slight increase of 1.19% has been identified.
Under nutrition can affect cognitive development by causing direct structural damage to
the brain and by impairing infant motor development13
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12
Nutritional status report of elementary pupils in quezon province baseline data severely wasted + wasted
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13
Pitcher J, Henderson-Smart D, Robindon J. Prenatal programming of uman motor function. In: Wintour E,
Owens J, eds. Early life origins of health and disease. New York: Springer Science and Business Media, 2006
In Cebu, stunting at 2 years was associated with delayed school entry, greater grade
repetition and dropout rates, decreased graduation rates from primary and secondary
school, and lower school performance14.
Moreover, there is a positive effect of reduction in the prevalence rates of under nutrition.
OVERWEIGHT OBESE
Table 19
The chart presented above is the provincial prevalence trend of overweight and obese
school children in a 4 years academic period. There are two graphs presented in the chart,
one is the overweight trend represented by the violet line and the other is the obese trend
represented by the red line.
It is imperative to know that there are more overweight than obese school children all
throughout the 4 school years. 2013-2014 marked the year with the largest number of
children with 4,504 OW and 1152 obese children. However 2014-2015 marked with the
lowest number in both categories.
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14
Daniels MC, Adair LS. Growth in young Filipino children predicts schooling trajectories through high
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0
2013-2014 2014-2015 2015-2016 2016-2017
Table 20
The line graph details the number of undernourished school children in Quezon in 4
academic years. Overall, it can be seen from 2013-2015 that there is a steady decline while
a slight increase were seen in 2016.
Academic year 2013-2014 has the largest number of undernourished children with 50,767,
while 2015-2016 has the lowest with 30,712.
The pie chart illustrates the percentage of children weighed amongst the enrolled school
children of DepEd Quezon in 2016. The green area represents the total enrolment while the
orange area represents the unweighed children.
It is evident from the chart that a great majority of school children are weighed. Out of the
275,049 enrolled pupils in 2016, 99.35% or 274,049 are weighed while the remaining
.65% or 1,782 have not been weighed. Interestingly, since 2013 almost all children are
weighed instantaneously in schools every academic year.
BOYS
GIRLS
Figure 19
The graph illustrates gender classification of school children weighed in 2016. The
proportion of males is greater than the females in this chart. 52% are boys while 48% are
girls. There are 141,296 boys while 130,971 girls participated in the annual weighing.
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NUTRITIONAL CLASSIFICATION AMONG SCHOOL CHILDREN WEIGHED IN 2016
0% 2%
4%
10%
NORMAL
WASTING
SEVERELY WASTING
OBESE
OVERWEIGHT
84%
Figure 20
The pie chart illustrates the percentage of school children based on the identified
nutritional status classification. It is evident from the chart that a great majority of school
children in 2016 has normal weight.
To begin, the proportion of children with normal weight was much greater than the four
other variables. 10% were wasted, 4% are severely wasted, 2& were overweight and a
little over are obese.
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GENDER CLASSIFICATION AND MAGNITUDE OF SEVERELYWASTED SCHOOL CHILDREN PER YEAR
LEVEL
SPED 37 19
MALE FEMALE
Table 21
The graph classifies the gender and magnitude of severely wasted school children in every
level. There are more SW males than females. Grade 5 indicates the most number of
severely wasted males with 1,135, while grade 1 has the most number with 691 females.
both the SPED level has the least number of SW grade-schoolers in both genders.
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GENDER CLASSIFICATION AND MAGNITUDE OF WASTED SCHOOL CHILDREN PER YEAR LEVEL
SPED 57 36
MALE FEMALE
Table 22
The bar chart gives information about the most number of wasted school children in the
identified grade levels in connection with their gender classification. There are more
wasted school children in grade 5 in both the males and females category. Grade 5 males
have 2,470 while the females have 1,903. On the other hand, the SPED level has the
smallest number with 57 males and 36 females.
In total, there are more wasted males than females totalling to 15,256 versus 12,552.
GENDER CLASSIFICATION AND MAGNITUDE OF SCHOOL CHILDREN WITH NORMAL WEIGHT PER
YEAR LEVEL
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KINDER 12329 11927
MALE FEMALE
Table 23
The table shows the gender and magnitude distribution in different grade level of school
children with normal weight. The vertical axis corresponds to the grade levels, while the
horizontal axis denotes the genders of the children. The corresponding numbers per bracket
are indicated in the inside end of each gender.
The grade five level had the most number on both genders. Record shows that the most
number are 18,630 males and 17,485 females. While the SPED level has the least number
with only 311 males and 230 females. In total, there are more boys than girls with normal
height in this category.
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GENDER CLASSIFICATION AND MAGNITUDE OF OVERWEIGHT SCHOOL CHILDREN PER YEAR
LEVEL
KINDER 140 96
SPED 28 22
MALE FEMALE
Table 24
Table ____illustrates the magnitude and gender distribution of school children who are
overweight in identified grade levels. there are more overweight males than femeles
according to the data presented by DepEd Quezon. Again, grade 5 level has the most
number of OW school children in both genders. with 557 males and 363 females.
GENDER CLASSIFICATION AND MAGNITUDE OF OBESE SCHOOL CHILDREN PER YEAR LEVEL
KINDER 42 42
GRADE 1 96 35
GRADE 2 110 48
GRADE 3 167 77
GRADE 4 135 32
GRADE 5 104 45
GRADE 6 114 47
SPED 9 8
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MALE FEMALE
Table 25
167 males and 77 females indicated the level with the largest number of school children.
SPED level has the least number with only 17 school children combined. In total there are
more obese males then females.
SUMMARY
Certainly, the report showed different categories of malnutrition; under nutrition, wasting
and stunting. These three variables indicate the most prolific forms and thus affecting
Quezonian children mostly. For many years, Quezon has the highest prevalence of
malnutrition in the region. Almost a third of our children under five years old are stunted
which definitely creates a problem in the society. One in every 10 children is wasted and or
underweight. Furthermore, basing on the number there are12, 357 undernourished, 18, 151
wasted and 50, 8926 stunted Quezonian children. Overweight and obesity is also becoming
a problem in this generation. A significant proportion of Quezonian children are affected
which predisposes them to certain nutrition and health risk.
Call for Local government Units to better invest in child’s development to hinder the
effects of malnutrition.
Help us fight malnutrition and heed our call to action.
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