Cristobal, M. C. R. (2015). Emergency and disaster preparedness on nutrition among children 0-71 months old in Jomalig, Quezon (Unpublished master's thesis). Graduate School of Public and Development Management, Development Academy of the Philippines.

Graduate School of Public and Development Management. Health Systems and Development. Batch 5 Thesis (MPM-HSD)--Development Academy of the Philippines.

Jomalig, Quezon, which has one of the highest malnutrition prevalence rates in the country since 2011, is a 5th class geographically isolated island town located at the eastern Luzon facing the Pacific Ocean. This makes it susceptible to extreme weather conditions, such as typhoons. Emergency preparedness of the municipality, most especially in terms of nutrition must be strengthen to protect the malnourished from further deterioration and to maintain the nutritional status of children 0-71 months old. In general, this study aims to prepare Jomalig in managing the nutrition of children 0-71 months old during the emergencies and disasters. Specifically, its goal is to determine the baseline vulnerability among the gaps in the present nutrition program that may affect the nutritional vulnerability in emergencies and disasters; and to determine the interventions and strategies that can be adapted to improve the level of preparedness in terms of nutrition management in emergencies. The baseline vulnerability of this age group was determined based on the analysis the acute malnutrition prevalence rates , from Operation Timbang Pus (OTP) results, trends in morbidity of common childhood illnesses such as diarrhea, acute respiratory infections and pneumonia and measles incidence and vaccination coverage rates. The analysis, which used documents review and descriptive statistics, showed the children 0-71 months old were highly vulnerable to nutritional deterioration during emergencies and disasters. The current nutrition program were analyzed using key informant interviews and documents review. Other factors that affect this vulnerability were the gaps in the municipal nutrition program, which include the poor identification, monitoring and management of cases of acute malnutrition, existence of poor infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices and lack of capacity-building for nutrition workers. The efforts in nutrition were not enough to decrease the malnutrition rates. Through documents review, focus group discussion and key informant interviews, the municipality was determined to have a low level of preparedness in emergencies and disasters. There were no policies, programs and interventions for nutritional disaster response. Significantly, there was no written disaster risk reduction and management plan. Health and nutrition workers were not trained in Nutrition in Emergencies. No community IYCF support groups were mobilized. Based on the findings and results, interventions such as capacity-building for nutrition workers on nutrition program management, direct supervision of OPT, initiation of barangay nutrition interventions, integration of the local health boards and local nutrition councils, formation of IYCF support groups with peer counsellors and formulation of a municipal nutrition management plan for emergencies and disasters and other guidelines and protocols were initiated and implemented to further improve the level of emergency and disaster preparedness of Jomalig.