The document addresses malnutrition among children in the Philippines during the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting its causes such as adolescent pregnancy, poverty, and unemployment. It presents alarming statistics, indicating that many children are malnourished, with an exacerbation of the situation due to the pandemic, which disrupted health services and increased food insecurity. The study aims to explore the factors contributing to malnutrition during this period, emphasizing the need for urgent government intervention.

1. TOPIC: MALNUTRITION
RESEARCH PROBLEM: MALNUTRITION AMONG THE CHILDREN
DURING THE PANDEMIC IN PHILIPPINES
PROBLEM STATEMENT: TO STUDY THE CAUSE OF MALNUTRITION IN
CHILDREN DURING THE PANDEMIC IN PHILIPPINES
RESEARCH QUESTION: DOES THE PANDEMIC AFFECTS THE RATE OF
MALNOURISHMENT ON CHILDREN IN PHILIPPINES?
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
By the increase of Philippine population malnutrition has been a chronic,silent, and
insidious threat to health and development among young people. Malnutrition is
the condition that develops when the body is deprived of vitamins,minerals and
other nutrients it needs to maintain healthy tissues and organs. In philippines more
children suffer from malnutrition due to dietary imbalances than due to nutritional
deficiencies. According to a recent National Survey and Nutrition Research
Institute(FNRI) and Philippine Ministry of Health,about one million children suffer
from acute malnutrition, and nearly about 1/2 of the accelerated death rate among
those age 5 and younger is related to malnutrition and about one million children
suffer from acute malnutrition.
RESEARCH PROBLEM
Undernourished children are more prone to COVID-19. even before the pandemic,
around 30 percent of children under 5 years old were stunted or not tall enough for
their age. According to UNICEF Philippines Every day 95 children in the
philippines die from malnutrition.27 out of 1,000 Filipino children do not get past
their 5th birthday. 3rd of filipino children are stunted, or short for their age.
Stunting after 2 years of age can be permanent, irreversible and even fatal. In
philippines 1 out of 3 children are having not enough food and nutrients. During
the COVID-19 Pandemic and enhanced community quarantine it create a situation
that more affects the nutrition of malnourished children,the health centers have
been disrupted and it has resulted to the inability of families to meet their basic
food requirements due to income losses.

2. PROBLEM STATEMENT
This study aims to determine what are the causes of malnutrition during the
pandemic in Philippines.
1.what are the causes of malnutrition during the pandemic in terms of;
1.1 adolescent pregnancy
1.2 poverty and hunger
1.3 unemployment
ADOLESCENT PREGNANCY
Every year an estimated 21 million minor womens aged 15-19 years in every
regions become pregnant and 12 million of them successfully gave birth, and over
the years the cases of adolescent pregnancy continually increase specially when the
COVID-19 pandemic begins.According to The United Nation Population Fund
(UNFPA) reported that Philippines has the highest rate of teenage pregnancy in
Asia, estimates that one in ten 15-19 year-old Filipino women is already a mother.
In terms of maternal health and nutrition a study found that the children of teenage
mothers had a high prevalence of undernutrition, which is consistent with data
showing that one out of every four pregnant Filipino women(24.5 percent) is at
risk of giving birth to low-birth-weight babies and other pregnancy complications.
Young maternal age at childbirth is linked to low birth weight,paternal birth,infant
mortality,and poor child growth. Babies born to adolescent mothers are more risk
of stillbirth,preterm delivery, and severe infections. Malnutrition from pregnancy
until the child’s first two years of life has irreversible affects and life long
consequences. If the adolescent mother is already undernutrition or nutritionally at
risk even before pregnancy, then there is a possibility that her child will also be
undernourished.
POVERTY AND HUNGER
Poverty are one of the cause of malnutrition, and risk to the children who are in a
poor family. People who are poor are more likely to be affected by different forms
of malnutrition. The rights of children calls the attention of the Philippine
government on the rising number of filipinos,children included, who experienced
hunger amid the COVID-19 pandemic, calles for urgent government action to halt
the increase in the number of children becoming malnourished due to hunger and
food insecurity. Children, along with pregnant and lactating women as well as
adolescents, suffer the most from rising hunger in the country as their physical

3. requirements for adequate food and proper nutrition must be met to ensure their
survival and health during the pandemic. Without support and having a lack of
education, the young mothers may ended up being pregnant again and give birth to
low birthweight infants, making more difficult to end the cycle of malnutrition due
to poverty.
UNEMPLOYMENT AND LOW WAGES
Unemployment also refer as one of the cause of malnutrition, especially when the
pandemic begins and the quarantine started, it leads to unemployment and job loss
of many people, being unemployed is a risk to people who need to work for their
basic needs, especially to a poor family that have a children. Even before the
pandemic it has been difficult for them to provide their family basic needs,
sometimes they just eat one times a day, and being thankful if they eat 3 times a
day. Eating 1 times a day is not good for the health of a children, because they
need enough nutrients for their body. Having a lack of employment opportunities,
and financial support make it difficult for the adolescent mothers in providing good
nutrition to their children, due to unemployment,and low wages it can lead to
household food insecurity, inadequate care,”unhealthy household environment and
lack of health service that can affect the health of the children. Households that
cannot afford nutritious food due to unemployment and low wages are most
associated with the inadequate diet and disease that leads to malnutrition.
RESEARCH QUESTION
Before the pandemic in the year 2018, about 14.5 percent of the Philippine
population was undernourished. Over the last ten years, the portion of
undernourished people from the overall population in the Philippines remained
between 13-14 percent. For the year 2019 when the pandemic starts , the rate of
stunting among children under five years of age was 28.8 percent and underweight
was 19 percent and the wasting was 6 percent. Based on the World Health
Organization’s classification of undernutrition rates, the stunting prevalence of
children in the Philippines is of “very high”, and 8.8 percent of children are
experiencing hunger. In may 2020, filipinos experiencing hunger doubled to 16.7
percent compared to 8.8 percent in December 2019, accounting for around 4.2
million individuals and increase the number of children becoming undernourished.

4. REFERENCE
Joey Reyna,(2014)Child Survival, Helping Children survive and thrive
(https://www.unicef.org/philippines/child-survival)
Ezra Acayan(June 15,2021)Undernutrition in the Philippines: Scale, Scope, and
Opportunities for Nutrition Policy and Programming
(https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/philippines/publication/-key-findings-
undernutrition-in-the-philippines)
NEW GUIDELINES LAUNCHED ON MANAGEMENT OF MALNUTRITION
FOR FILIPINO CHILDREN (https://doh.gov.ph/node/10549)
(August 23,2021)Prevent teenage pregnancy to end cycle of malnutrition
(https://www.nnc.gov.ph/regional-offices/luzon/national-capital-region/5849-
prevent-teenage-pregnancy-to-end-cycle-of-malnutrition)
I COME UP WITH THIS STUDY because malnutrition has been one of our
problems since before, even before the pandemic, it has been one of the problems
of our country, but most people do not pay attention to it, they are not concerned
about the hundreds of young people who die because of malnutrition, I can
compare this to covid-19 pandemic that we are experiencing today but malnutrition
is a chronic, silent pandemic that is a threat to the health of young people