Nutrition body’s ratings high amid stunting rate

File photo MANILA, Philippines — The National Nutrition Council (NNC) was pressed by the Second Congressional Commission on Education (Edcom 2) to explain its high performance ratings despite the country’s worsening child stunting rate. In a statement on Sunday, Edcom 2 Commissioner Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian urged the NNC to “be realistic,” citing performance data that 96 percent of local government units (LGUs) achieved a score of 85 percent in the Seal of Quality Nutrition Program. “But obviously, if we have 2 million malnourished children, it means our LGUs aren’t pushing themselves hard enough to attain a better score, right?” said Gatchalian. Article continues after this advertisement Under the 2027 National Expenditure Program, the NNC set a target of only 20 percent of LGUs meeting the minimum score for the program. READ: DOH aims to reduce stunting to 19.4% by 2027 Integrity problem The agency, however, reported a 96.16-percent compliance rate which is nearly five times its target, even as the national stunting rate continued to rise. Edcom 2 Executive Director Dr. Karol Mark Yee warned against performance targets that reward agencies for success on paper.Yee also flagged a data integrity problem in NNC’s local monitoring tool, where it placed a fivefold gap of 5 percent on childhood stunting in 2025 instead of the 25.3-percent national estimate. READ: Child stunting surge highlights urgency of House nutrition bill – Dy Article continues after this advertisement ‘Conflicting picture’ “This presents a conflicting picture: of an agency seemingly overachieving their original target, while in reality, stunting is worsening,” Yee said. That concern was highlighted in a June 2025 survey by the Department of Science and Technology–Food and Nutrition Research Institute, which noted a first-time nationwide increase in stunting in more than a decade. Article continues after this advertisement Stunting among Filipino children under 5 rose to 25.3 percent from 23.6 percent in 2023, affecting one in four children.Gatchalian stressed that early childhood stunting may cause irreversible cognitive and physical damage, adding that children may reach learning poverty before they reach a classroom. “I’m sure you know that once children reach over 4 [or] 5 years old, it’s irreversible. Before he even enters school, he’s already behind,” said Gathalian. NNC executive director Albert Domingo acknowledged the criticism, saying the current metric tracks process rather than results. ‘Paper-based compliance’ “When the indicator is like that, what immediately comes to mind is a major input. It implies we are measuring plans and the volume of documents,” said Domingo. “Perhaps we should be measuring what we actually observe during site visits, which is the output.” He said the primary measure should be stunting reduction, not paperwork compliance. Yee told senators “paper-based compliance” in allocating budget plans for education programs only rewards agencies for convenience rather than changing the conditions their programs seek to address. “Performance indicators can reward agencies for counting what’s convenient rather than for changing the conditions they exist to address,” Yee said. “As a result, budgets may also risk funding the size of programs instead of the true scale of the problem…Changing an indicator does not change the child,” he added. During budget deliberation last week, the Department of Health (DOH) said it aims to cut stunting to 19.4 percent by 2027 despite a reduced nutrition budget next year. Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again. Your subscription has been successful. Health Secretary Edwin Mercado said funding for the DOH’s nutrition programs fell sharply from P976 million in 2025 to P223 million in 2026, with the proposed allocation for 2027 even lower at P209 million. —WITH A REPORT FROM SHERIDAN DELFINO