The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will start the 13th feeding cycle of its Supplementary Feeding Program (SFP) on the second week of September, DSWD Assistant Secretary for Strategic Communications Romel Lopez said.
The DSWD said with the SFP, more than 1.8 million children are expected to get an additional boost in their nutritional needs.
The SFP provides food in addition to the regular meals of children enrolled in local government unit-managed Child Development Centers (CDCs) and Supervised Neighborhood Plays (SNPs).
Lopez said the program is also part of the department’s contribution to the government’s Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Program, and in line with Republic Act No. 11037 or the “Masustansyang Pagkain para sa Batang Pilipino Act.”
The 13th feeding cycle will cover school year (SY) 2023 to 2024, undernourished daycare children aged three to five years old will be provided with at least one fortified meal for a period of not less than 120 days in a year.
In the 12th cycle of the program, which started in August 2022, some 1,933,671 children were served with hot meals nationwide.
During the same cycle, 90,262 children enrolled in CDCs and SNPs were served with milk.
“Rest assured that the DSWD will continue to provide technical assistance to our local government counterparts for the efficient implementation of the SFP,” Lopez said.
“Aside from LGUs, parents and caregivers are also enjoined to participate in the conduct of the SFP to increase their knowledge on nutrition and health education by participating in the preparation of meals sourced from local ingredients and monitoring of the weight of the children,” Lopez, who is also DSWD spokeperson, added.