Skip to main content

Formula feed still rules in RP


IT had to take the arm of the law—Republic Act 76000 of 1992-- for arm-twisting healthcare establishments in the Philippines. It had become legal since then for newborns to room in with their moms—for warmth and solace of bonding and health-giving intake of colostrum, mom’s first gush of milk, dirty-looking yet rich in nutrients and antibodies that curb a host allergies and diseases.

That wasn’t the usual practice—which often prepped up the infant to formula feeding that can be very costly. And very deadly. Had hospital-born infants been calves, all it would take is a week for them to turn up dead, succumbing to the onslaught of disease—that’s how vital colostrum is, even to the bovine species.

Law enforcement is not too strict. Legal protection for newborn Filipinos isn’t all-encompassing. And no top honcho of any health care establishment has been thrown the books or thrown behind bars.

The criminal leniency may account for over 16,000 deaths of under-five children yearly that could have been prevented with “(1) initiation of exclusive breastfeeding in the 1st hour of life, (2) exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months, and continued breastfeeding and appropriate complementary feeding to at least two years.”

Survey records bear out non-compliance—“13% of infants were never breastfed making the Philippines the lowest in ever breastfed rates among 56 countries surveyed.”

Pump up irony like mom’s mammary: “39% of infants are using formula in their first 12 months of life.”

Nearly 30% of formula users belong to hard-up families living on less than P100 a day, survey findings show.

Based on 2003 prices, P21.3 billion is coughed up to buy formula—a Filipino family spends an average P2,000 monthly for the product. For a family of five subsisting on a minimum wage, that means almost 30% of the net income goes to infant formula.

Parents are wrung through a gauntlet of formula advertisements in various media as local ersatz milk manufacturers plunked down, say in 1006, P4.6 billion in advertising, double than what is spent in the United States.

For moms giving in to the ad barrage that means for their child as records show (1) 1.2 million more illness episodes (2) 10 million more days ill, (3)450,000 more health facility visits, and (4) 36,000 more infants hospitalized.

Various research findings show that “non-breastfed children have 14 times the risk of dying from diarrhea, 16.7 times increased risk of pneumonia, and 18 times the risk of dying from neonatal sepsis compared to the those exclusively breastfed.”

Such ailments perennially turn up in the top 10 leading causes of child deaths in the Philippines.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

ALAMAT NG TAHONG

SAKBIBI ng agam-agam sa kalagayan ng butihing kabiyak-- at kabiyakan, opo-- na nakaratay sa karamdaman, ang pumalaot na mangingisda ay napagawi sa paanan ng dambuhalang Waczim-- isang bathala na nagkakaloob sa sinuman anumang ibulwak ng bibig mula sa bukal ng dibdib. Pangangailangan sa salapi na pambili ng gamot ng kapilas-pusong maysakit ang nakasaklot sa puso ng matandang mangingisda. 'Di kaginsa-ginsa'y bumundol ang kanyang bangka sa paanan ng Waczim. Kagy at umigkas ang katagang kimkim noon sa kanyang dibdib: "Salapi!" Bumuhos ng salapi-- mga butil at gilit ng ginto-- mula papawirin. At halos umapaw sa ginto ang bangka ng nagulantang na mangingisda, walang pagsidlan ang galak, at walang humpay ang pasasalamat sa mga bathala. Nanumbalik ang kalusugan ng kabiyak ng mangingisda. At lumago ang kabuhayan, naging mariwasa ang magkapilas-puso na dating maralita. Nilasing ng kanyang mga dating kalapit-bahay ang mangingisda-- na hindi ikina...
Post a Comment
Read more

Cal y canto con camote

FENG shui (literally, wind water flow) lore has it root crops embody a hidden store of treasures. Say, a local food conglomerate needs yearly 35,000 metric tons of cassava for livestock feed-- the available local supply falls short of 13,000 tons. Cassava granules sell for around P9 a kilo. Demand for the same root crop to be used in liquor manufacturing is hitting above the roof. Why, raising cassava is a no-brainer task— this is one tough crop that can grow in the most hostile patches of earth, providing sustenance for ages to dwellers in sub-Saharan parts of Africa. While the hardy cassava is nearly pure starch, the lowly sweet potato or kamote is considered by nutritionists as a super food, the most nutritious of all vegetables— kamote levels of Vitamin A are “off the charts, rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties.” A fist-sized kamote can supply a day’s dose of glucose to fuel the brain, muscles, and organs, so they claim. Count the country lucky...
Post a Comment
Read more

Wealth garden

‘TWAS CRUEL as smashing a budding green thumb: some years back, an abuela warned me about letting any clump of katigbi (Job’s tears or Coix lachrymal jobi for you botanists) from growing in our homeyard. That grass with rapier-like leaves that smelled of freshly pounded pinipig supposedly invited bad luck and sorrows—why, that biblical character Job wailed and howled a lot, didn’t he? (But was later rewarded with oodles of goodies, wasn’t he?) Then, I came across some arcane text that practically goaded folks to grow katigbi in their gardens—why, there’s a starchy kernel wrapped shut in the seed’s shiny coat. A handful or more of kernels could be cooked as porridge. Too, one could whisper a wish upon seven seed pods, throw ‘em pods in running water—a river or stream—and the wish would be granted! I was warned, too, about planting kapok or talisay trees right in the homeyard—these trees form a cross-like branching pattern. Pasang-krus daw ang bahay na kalapit sa puno ng kapok, tal...
Post a Comment
Read more