LOOK: This Unhealthy Meal Is What 1.8 Million Filipino Children Are Having, And You Can Help Change It

It's not rice and sardines, not even rice and dried fish.

It's just rice and kropek. Kropek is a shrimp or fish-flavored snack made of flour.

About 1.8 million Filipino children are eating this unhealthy meal in poor communities nationwide.

We always say that the youth are the future of our nation, but what would the future look like if our youth are malnourished and sick?

"Good nutrition is the founding principle of economic prosperity. How can we achieve economic prosperity if the future generations are not equipped, and don't have the brains to do it?" Karen Davila, journalist and mom of two said during the launch of Batang Matatag last October 13 in Pasay City.

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Spearheaded by Save The Children Philippines and Erceflora Kiddie, the Batang Matatag movement aims to build resilient kids, and take out the inequality and provide access to hygiene education, clean nutritious food, and sanitation.

Vanee Gosiengfiao, General Manager from the makers of Erceflora Kiddie, and Naida Pasion, Chief Business Development Officer of Save the Children Philippines, revealed what a typical meal is like for a Filipino child in poor communities - rice and kropeck.

Gosiengfiao pointed out that children in the poor communities of Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) have this for their daily meal. "This is even made worse when a child suffers from diarrhea," she said.

Diarrhea is brought about by poor sanitation, unclean water, and may lead to dehydration and complications.

RELATED: Kailan Nagiging Delikado ang Pagtatae o Diarrhea Sa Mga Sanggol at Bata

The Batang Matatag movement, on its initial phase, will focus on approximately 1.8 million Filipino children in conflict-affected areas in BARMM. The goal is to build a future where every Filipino child is resilient, or a Batang Matatag.

What should be on every child's plate? This.

Atty. Alberto Muyot, Chief Executive Officer of Save the Children Philippines, said that the Batang Matatag movement was launched to prove to everyone although we have policies on nutrition in place such as the First 1000 Days, we have to bring it down to actual implementation.

He also stressed that usually there is a lack of funding for nutrition projects in the barangay level.

"We hope LGUs get inspiration from this project that with minimal funding, through the education of communities and parents, the nutritional status of children can be improved."

Atty. Muyot clarified that the project is not dole out, "What we want to do is we want to empower families and communities to take care of the health and nutrition of children. We want to raise consciousness, educate families, adopt practices that would ensure better health and nutrition for the children."

The project also hopes to eradicate death from diarrhea in Philippines, starting with BARMM.

Davila stressed that everyone has a role to play when it comes to ensuring our children's health and nutrition. "There's something that can be done," she said.

For every purchase of Erceflora Kiddie, a portion goes to helping improve the lives of children in BARMM. Buy it on Watsons here. 

You may also visit Save The Children Philippines' website to know more about this project.