LUGAW NA NAMAN?!

Supplementing the Implementation of Republic Act 11037 (Masustansyang Pagkain para sa Batang Pilipino Act) in Cainta Elementary School, Rizal

Background of the Situation

Republic Act 11037

RA 11037 is also known as the Masustansyang Pagkain para sa Batang Pilipino Act. It promots the health and well-being of Filipino children by mandating the provision of nutritious food in schools, ensuring they have access to balanced meals that support their growth and development.

Section 4.5 - Cycle Menu

mandates that there needs to be a cycle menu undertaken by school canteens to ensure healthy food options for students.

Regional Memorandum No. 501, S. 2023

RM No. 501, S. 2023 is a mandate released by the Department of Education Regional Division of CALABARZON. It prescribes school canteens to stricter food service according to the color categorization provided DepEd in the said Republic Act. These are divided into three categories: Green (food that must always be in the canteen - greens, healthy food), Yellow (allowed to be sold in moderation - food that contain little fat and salt) and Red (food and drinks that should not be sold - chips, soft drinks, etc.)

Contextual Problems

The school canteen offers only hot soups for meals in a one-week meal plan.
The school canteen lacks food options and variations for students
The canteen manager and school nurse informally plan meals and rely on external consignors that sell chips and biscuits.
The school does not have a resident registered nutritionist-dietitian.
High malnutrition rates are still prevalent in Cainta, Rizal

Policy Challenge

Lack of a formal and professionally approved Cycle Menu in Cainta Elementary School Canteen that impedes the implementation of RA 11037.

Rationale

There is a need to bridge the divide between policy and practice. The implementation gaps of RA 11037 must be addressed in order to provide more meal options and nutritious food to the students of Cainta Elementary School.

Cainta Elementary School 170 Parola St, Cainta, 1900 Rizal

Meet the Stakeholders

The stakeholders served as both interviewees and consultants for the Public Policy Challenge. Going back and forth to CES, we were able to form a consultative process where they were also hands-on in the formulation of the Meal Plan booklet.

Canteen Manager

The current Canteen Manager is Ms. Jasmine Canaceli. She is being trained by the former canteen manager, Ms. Ginafe Moran, a Grade 5 teacher.

The Students

The students that were interviewed ranged from Grade 3 to Grade 6 students.

School Principal

The School Principal of Cainta Elementary School is Doctor Aurora De Ungria Flores.

Initial Findings

The students of Cainta Elementary School are being served meals that are not fully in accordance with the requirements set forth by both RA 11037 and by the aforesaid DepEd Regional Memorandum. As mentioned above, students are only being served hot meals on a weekly meal plan. This means that students already know what meal will be served to them on a daily basis. Aside from this, the Canteen also finds it challenging to follow the categorization requirements, especially as students are also being served chips and other food items from consignors which have little to no nutritional value. This has led students to become desensitized with the canteen itself, particularly of the meals being repetitiously served to them. As a result, many students have opted instead to bring packed meals and snacks from home.

The Cainta Elementary School Canteen offering chips and other meals from consignors that are not recommended to be served by DepEd's Categorization requirements, as they have little to no nutritional value.

The school is also constrained by the limited resources afforded to them by DepEd.

The school does not have access to a professional nutritionist-dietician that could assist them in planning meals. Instead, they merely rely on what little instruction and support that are enshrined in the abovementioned policies and in other similar issuances by the Department of Education. Aside from this, canteen managers are also constrained by costs —not only of food production, but also of the price in which meals will be sold to students. This is because not all students have the ability to purchase more expensive and perhaps, more nutritious meals.

Relevant Numbers

PhP 5-7

The average price of the hot meals being served by the Cainta Elementary School Canteen to its students, so that they may be able to afford them.

5,689 students

The number of students in Cainta Elementary School for S/Y 2023-2024.

28.3%

of children in the Province of Rizal are underweight, according to the National Nutrition Council (2015).

Registered Nutritionist Dietician

Since Cainta Elementary School (CES) does not have access to a professional nutritionist-dietician, the group took the initiative to consult with one, in the person of Ms. Sam Micah Gabieta (License No. 0017807). Considering the abovementioned situation in CES, and considering that meals will be served to a wide number of students who have varying nutritional needs, she recommended the formulation of a meal plan that is in accordance with the Pinggang Pinoy for Kids Framework of the Department of Science and Technology’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI). This could be done by enhancing the hot meals already being served in the aforesaid school in order to add more nutritional value to it as compared with those being served today.

The Meal Plan Booklet

In response to the nutritional challenges faced by Cainta Elementary School, our group introduces the meal plan booklet. This booklet provides a suggestive and formal Cycle Menu for CES to enhance the dietary options available to students. The booklet contains sample meal plans curated by a registered nutritionist-dietician, to ensure that each meal fills in nutritional gaps for these growing learners. Additionally, the booklet includes contextualized food improvements informed by consultations with the school principal, canteen staff and students in order to ensure that options are relevant, feasible and enticing. Importantly, it recommends simple changes like adding proteins such as boiled eggs or chicken shreds to lugaw. A meal that is already a staple in the canteen menu. Thus, this initiative also bridges the gap between proper nutrition and limited financial resources for both the school and its students.

For the long-term we also recommend that Cainta Elementary establish connections with registered professionals for meal plan and service approval so that these meal plans can be carried on and reformulated for succeeding school years.

Significance of the Meal Plan

As highlighted and necessitated by the canteen personnel at Cainta Elementary School, there has been a consistent weekly menu throughout the school year, which proves the lack of nutritional options readily available for students to purchase at the school canteen. While they received a meal guide from the Department of Education, it does not include a curated meal plan that they could use as a reference to effectively change and plan the meals they would serve daily or weekly in preparation. RA 11037, Section 4.5 mandates all public schools to have a cycle menu, referring to standardized menus that should offer as many varieties and selections as necessary, considering factors such as availability and locality. Moreover, it should be contextualized and drafted according to factors such as age range, budget, location, type of school, and local cultural or religious eating preferences. Thus, the challenge faced by Cainta Elementary School's canteen reflects a problem in policy implementation.

With this, the meal plan booklet aims to suggest meal options for variations that the canteen can serve to the students that are scientifically approved and appropriated by a licensed nutritionist-dietician. Since they only assign one type of food to be served each school day throughout the school year, we designed a meal plan booklet that would give and supply the canteens nutritious options for meal planning. Designed to supplement the canteen's current offerings, the suggested meals adheres to the requirements of the Pinggang Pinoy for kids from DOST-FNRI, as recommended by Ms. Sam Gabieta, a licensed nutritionist-dietician that serves as our consultant for this project.

Flow Chart

This flowchart acts as an actionable roadmap to tackle the serious problem of malnutrition at Cainta Elementary School. The importance of following this flowchart lies in its systematic approach, ensuring thorough assessment, stakeholder involvement, and the implementation of evidence-based interventions to promote the long-term nutritional well-being of the students.

For the Future of Cainta

While the meal plan booklet offers a suggestive menu, its true strength lies in its ability to serve as a foundation for a long-term solution. In order to achieve this, Cainta Elementary should establish connections with dietitians who are duly registered. These experts have the capacity to look back at their past records and redo menus in order to correspond with nutrition requirements of students over time.

The process of collaboration instead of quick repair creates a system which will sustain itself by putting Cainta Elementary School’s children first.

Metrics of Success

The success metrics of the formulated meal plan will be gauged by the introduction of a wider array of healthy meal options available to students, ensuring greater variety and nutritional balance. Additionally, the establishment of a formal process of meal planning by canteen managers will serve as a measure of success, promoting consistency and accountability in menu selection. Moreover, the sustainability and effectiveness of the meal plan will be evaluated through the development and implementation of long-term meal plans, fostering healthy eating habits and meeting the dietary needs of students over time.

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