Women in the Philippines at the Forefront of the Health Food Movement

In the Philippines, 22 percent of children under the age of five are underweight, and 32 percent of children are stunted. Credit: Kara Santos/IPSBy Diana MendozaMANILA, Mar 20 2015 (IPS)When Tinay Alterado’s team from ARUGAAN, an organisation of women healthcare advocates, visited Eastern Visayas, a region of the Philippines devastated by Typhoon Haiyan in November 2013, they noticed that the relief and rescue sites were flooded with donated milk formula, which nursing mothers were feeding to their babies in vast quantities.Milk formula was one of the hundreds of relief items that streamed into the affected region in the aftermath of the strongest recorded storm to ever hit land.“No one knows if GMOs are safe to eat, but there is mounting evidence that they pose dangers to human health." -- Angelina Galang, head of Consumer Rights for Safe Food (CRSF)“We intervened because we knew from what we saw that we had to teach women how to breastfeed and how important it is for them, their babies and their families,” Alterado told IPS.ARUGAAN, which in Filipino means to nurture or take care of someone, is a home centre organised by mostly poor, urban working mothers who care for babies up to three-and-a-half months old and advocate for healthy lifestyles, especially exclusive breastfeeding.“We informed the women that they can and must breastfeed, and it should be for [up to] six months or even longer,” Alterado said.Her group’s emergency response in the typhoon-affected ...

Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - March 20, 2015 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Diana Mendoza Tags: Active Citizens Aid Asia-Pacific Civil Society Climate Change Democracy Development & Aid Economy & Trade Editors' Choice Education Environment Food & Agriculture Gender Green Economy Headlines Health Human Rights Natural Source Type: news