1, 839 pregnant mothers from the 22 barangays in Cadiz City, Negros Occidental took part in the Dietary Supplementary Program (DSP) of the ECCD F1K. The DSP is a 90-day program where hot meals are provided every weekdays for 76 days and dry rations consisting of rice, monggo and oil every weekend for 14 days are given to pregnant mothers. The meals consist of 300 kcal (normal) and 400 kcal (at-risk) based from the FNRI recipes for pregnant women.

“We observed that more mothers realized the importance of proper nutrition during pregnancy hence, there was an increased participation and attendance of mothers during feeding. We also observed that barangays increased their support to the program by providing resources.” according to City Nutrition Action Christina Wong of Cadiz City.

The program aims to reduce number of nutritionally- at- risk pregnant women and increased number of infants with normal birth-weight (greater than or equal to 2.5kgs old.). It will reduce prevalence of stunting among children 0-23 months.

Western Visayas was the pilot area of the said program with 9 areas from both Iloilo and Negros Occidental province. Six areas already started the program including Cadiz City. By the end of their implementation, Cadiz City hopes to reach 100% of the target number of pregnant women.//RJD