CEBU CITY, Cebu, Philippines — At least 128,000 preschool children will benefit from the supplementary feeding program (SFP) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Central Visayas after the agency bought P38-million worth of rice.

DSWD 7 regional director Ma. Evelyn Macapobre said the DSWD has spent P38,424,600 to purchase rice from the National Food Authority (NFA) for the department's SPF that will be conducted in day-care centers throughout the region.

Some 4,072 day care centers, with a total of 128,082 preschool kids all over the region will benefit from the program, the DSWD 7 said.

The program is in partnership with the local government units (LGUs) and day care centers in the region. It aims to provide supplementary food to day-care children aged three to five years old. Macapobre said it is in the form of hot meals served either as breakfast or afternoon snacks five days a week for a period of 120 days.

A total of P167,376,550 was also disbursed to 132 LGUs for the purchase of vegetables, meat and poultry products to complete and further enhance the nutritional value of children’s meal, Macapobre said.

She also said the budget includes the purchase of eating and cooking utensils. Parents will manage the feeding program based on a prepared cycle menu using available indigenous food materials.

Children’s weights and heights are taken at the start of the feeding program and monitored every month to determine improvements in their nutritional status.