by Rene V. Carbayas
ISABELA CITY, Basilan – Basilan
health personnel urged the public not to ignore “hidden hunger” as a primary
concern of every household and save children from a future that is hampered by
poor human development.
Leilani Eugenio, Health Education and
Promotions Officer of the Provincial Health Office (PHO) said micronutrient
malnutrition “afflicts a far greater swath of humanity than insufficient
calorie intake.” She said that it is often called “hidden hunger” because it is
not readily apparent from clinical signs of a wasted body.
Eugenio, together with Nadswa Sario-Sahandal,
PHO Nutrition Program Coordinator and Sarah Jimbul, National Nutrition Council
representative for Basilan were guests recently at the Philippine Information
Agency’s radio program Noticias-Informaccion con Musica over DXNO-FM Radyo
Komunidad in Isabela City.
Nadzwa Sario-Sahandal, PHO Nutrition Program
Coordinator said that hidden hunger is unlike the hunger that comes from a lack
of food. “It is a chronic lack of vitamins and minerals that often have no
visible warning signs, so that people who suffer from it may not even be aware
of it,” she explained, stressing further that its consequences are nevertheless
disastrous, where it can lead to mental impairment, poor health and
productivity, or even death.
“One in three people in the world suffer from
hidden hunger. Women and children from the lower income groups in developing
countries are often the most affected,” she said.
PHO data revealed that the Autonomous Region
in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) recorded a 26.6 percent incidence of protein energy
malnutrition in 2011 and Basilan has a 15 percent incidence rate.
And based on the Micronutrient Malnutrition
Data NNS of 2008, the PHO revealed that the ARMM has a 47.3 percent incidence
rate of pregnant women with Iron Deficiency Anemia (IDA), 29.8 percent
incidence rate among lactating women, and 22.7 percent among children below
five years old.
Other type or forms of micronutrient
malnutrition are vitamin A deficiency (VAD), which may result to low resistance
to infection, unnecessary blindness, and stunted growth among children and
infants; iodine deficiency disorder (IDD), which may result to poor learning
ability, low motivation, and poor schools performance among children and
congenital abnormalities, growth retardation, delayed walking and speech, and
increase neonatal and infant mortality in infants. Folate deficiency will
impair distribution of oxygen to cells.
Sahandal, however, disclosed that pregnant
and lactating women are most vulnerable for the obvious reason that they bear
and nurse a child. She said that improving the health of individuals suffering
from hidden hunger has wide-ranging economic benefits because lack of essential
vitamins and minerals: can increase child and maternal mortality and cause
birth defects and developmental disabilities, contributes to and exacerbates
global poverty, constrains women's empowerment, and limits the productivity and
economic growth of nations.
With this reality, the health department in
ARMM and Basilan intensified its micronutrient supplementation program
intervention and delivery of health services, including advocacy programs
promoting more intakes of micronutrients.
With the Department of Health, the PHO is
also providing Vitamin A, iron and folic, and iodine supplementation, including
zinc in the management of diarrhea.