RIZAL 4th District Rep. Fidel Nograles stressed the need to ramp up efforts to address malnutrition and child stunting.

“Our country’s future workforce is at risk with the continued prevalence of malnutrition and child stunting. We need to address this issue urgently and seriously, and we need greater effort from all sectors if we are to make progress,” Nograles said in a statement.

The Management Association of the Philippines earlier warned against the effect of malnutrition and stunting.

“We cannot afford to have a major segment of our abundant workforce ill-equipped to meet the demands of the future AI-driven economy, by having lower mental capacities due to impaired brain development stemming from stunting at an early stage,” MAP Cluster on Resilience and Recovery and former National Economic and Development Authority chief Cielito Habito said.

Nograles cited the World Bank report that undernutrition has prevailed in the country for nearly 30 years, with one in every three Filipino children below 5 years old suffering from stunting.

The lawmaker urged local government units to boost their nutrition campaigns.

“Our LGUs are on the frontline and ideally placed to address malnutrition and child stunting. And with health functions now devolved to the local level, it is our responsibility to do something,” he said.

“A nation that is hungry now will be hungrier in the future if we do not take aggressive steps to tackle this grave issue,” Nograles said.