The Philippines is a country in Southeast Asia situated in the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of about 7,641 islands. The Philippines' position as an island country on the Pacific Ring of Fire and close to the equator makes the country prone to earthquakes and typhooons. The poverty level is 19.8%. Natural hazards and man-made conflicts contribute to food insecurity rates in the country.

Bountiful Children in the Philippines

In November 2013, the Bountiful Children's Foundation visited the central Philippines to screen children for malnutrition in five areas on Bohol and Cebu islands. Bohol Island had just experienced a 7.2 magnitude earthquake, and many homes were still destroyed or damaged with no hope of power being restored for many more months. The northern part of Cebu Island was also heavily impacted by Typhoon Haiyan and clean-up was still ongoing. In some areas, up to 80% of the homes were either lost or damaged.

The areas were incredibly supportive and were very excited to start nutrition programs for their children. From the screenings on Bohol Island, in the Bogo area, 63 of the 120 children screened were found to be malnourished. In the Calape area on Cebu Island, 108 of the 197 were malnourished. In the Tagbilaron area, 41 of the 80 children screened qualified for the program. Similar rates were found in Mandaue and Lilo-an where 14 of 32, and 48 of 108 children were malnourished, respectively.

Since these initial screenings, more areas have been screened throughout the Philippines to now include programs in over 30 areas!