All children must have their basic needs met before they can be ready to learn and develop appropriately. Parents must have adequate information and support in order to care for their children’s need. And teachers must have capabilities to enhance their pupils’ skills and knowledge. These qualities should be implied to improve pupils’ school performance.

        But unfortunately, there are some children who come to school on an empty stomach could not concentrate on their studies which may result to their absenteeism or poor school performance. This short-term hunger syndrome is observed among children who do not eat breakfast or walk long hours to reach school. With this regard, every school health coordinator should conduct a nutritional status to identify the pupils who are severely wasted within a year. It aims to rehabilitate the severely-wasted beneficiaries to normal nutritional status at the end of the feeding days.

        After evaluating their health status, the orientation of parents of severely wasted pupils should be planned and conducted in school so that the parents would have an intellectual insight on how important the proper nutrition is.

        Hence, a child can benefit from a comprehensive, interdisciplinary program to foster normal development and remedy problems wherein the school’s target is to rehabilitate severely wasted beneficiaries to normal status at the end of feeding days. And to sustain supplementary feeding, the school must be intensified the production and consumption of vegetables and fruits in school. To make it possible, the school could be tied up with the Brgy. Officials, parents and other NGO’s to build a program which is connected to “Gulayan sa Paaralan”.

 

By: Analiza G. Taguinod | Teacher I | Cataning Elementary School