Two Faces of Malnutriton

In an episode in the regular television series in ABS-CBN hosted by Karen Davila last week, malnutrition was thoroughly tackled. This has made the public more aware that malnutrition does not only occur on underweight people but also to the overweight ones.

As always, the underweight has captured the limelight and earn the sympathy of the viewers. It is so depressing to see people who are so skinny because they have nothing to eat and feed their body. Poverty has been pointed as culprit since time immemorial. Children from a very large family are the often victims of malnutrition. Government never ceases to look for ways on how to alleviate poverty and help the poor here in the Philippines but to no avail. Again, graft and corruption among few individuals are the obvious reasons why the allotted help for the less fortunate never reaches the hands of the needy.

What captured the interest of the viewer is the reportage on the overweight children and why they are classified as malnourished. Mal is tantamount to bad thus malnourished is badly nourished. Parents of these overweight children mistook the heaviness of their child as healthy. Parents thought that as long as they are able to make their child eat, that's already enough. Sometimes, they are not aware that they are feeding their children with the wrong food. The proliferation of so many fast food restaurants contribute greatly to the problem. Children often eat food that are served in these fast food. These food are proven not good for a growing up child. The three basic food groups must be present in a child's diet. Parents tend to follow the caprices of their children when they only want to eat food that are sold in the popular fast food. Parents want to see their children eating so to be able to make their child eat, they follow their desire.

These problems were clearly tackled in that particular episode. Viewers could easily grasp the message that the program want to convey. I hope that more educational programs will be shown to the viewing public so that our social problems will be minimized. I am a believer that educating our people is the key for a more developed nation.