Nourishing Minds
The Hershey Company (THC) and Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) recently recognized the top students of Manila Daycare Center 5 and 6 in Baseco, Manila.
THC and PBSP adopted the daycare center to provide good food and nutrition to malnourished children through the “Nourishing Minds-The Filipino Way” project.
The Hershey Company and Philippine Business for Social Progress recognize the top students of Manila Daycare Center.
When the supplemental feeding started, 37 of the preschoolers were malnourished. Twenty two of the kids were severely underweight while 15 were underweight. At the end of the 160-day feeding program, all of the children who used to be severely underweight, graduated from the daycare with already the normal weight for their age.
HEALTHIER KIDS, SMARTER MINDS
The high levels of stunting (too short for their age) and wasting (too thin for their height) among children under the age of five remain a problem in the Philippines.
According to the Philippine Plan of Action For Nutrition 2017-2022 of the National Nutrition Council, 33.4% of Filipino children under the age of five in the country are stunted while 7.1% are wasted. Lack of food and nutrients prevent the growth and development of the children, causing them to become malnourished and affecting their physical and mental development.
Recognizing the importance of nutrition in securing a bright future for the children, THC and PBSP have been continuously providing supplemental feeding to the daycare center for four years now.
The project has assisted more than 700 preschoolers in Baseco since its inception. There were also no more recorded dropouts from the daycare center. This year, all 180 students enrolled for the schoolyear were able to finish preschool.
Princess Nigel Kyla Belbora is one of the children assisted by the Nourishing Minds project and a top student of the Daycare center.
“The supplemental feeding provided by THC and PBSP really helped us parents and teachers to care for our children. Thanks to the feeding program, our kids became healthier and more active in school,” said Gina Belbora, mother of Princess Nigel Kyla Belbora.
Her daughter is among the beneficiaries of the feeding program and one of the top students in the daycare center.
“Aside from the feeding program, we also received sessions on safe motherhood. We were able to learn how to care not only for our children but for our well-being, as well. We learned that maternal health is also important,” said Belbora.
The Hershey Company and PBSP also renovated the daycare’s facilities to improve the learning environment of the children. Aside from the renovations, the daycare also received school materials and hygiene kits from the employee-volunteers of THC.