Child undernutrition continues to be a grave healthcare concern in the Philippines. According to the National Nutrition Survey in 2015 by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI), childhood wasting continues to affect an estimated seven percent of children under the age of five.
Universal Robina Corporation (URC), cognizant of its expertise as a leading Filipino food and beverage manufacturer, sought to develop a solution to help address this problem. With its CSR initiative dubbed Sagana Sustansya, an innovative food
additive made of nutritious vegetables was developed to enhance existing school-
based feeding programs of the Department of Education (DepEd).
The initiative was able to benefit 191 undernourished public school students in URC’s communities of operation, effectively improving the nutritional status of 157 program participants—representing an impressive 92 percent success rate of the intervention, as well as attaining 65 increase in knowledge and awareness on undernutrition among parents and teachers.