A child development center in Ilocos Norte welcomes the author and New Zealand Amb. Peter Kell during the KC ECD training launch In the Philippines, the month of July is the designated National Nutrition Month. It is a time to raise awareness of the importance of nutrition as one of the five main contributors to a young child’s holistic development, with the other four being early learning stimulation, health, social protection and responsive caregiving. Nutrition is particularly close to my heart as I am a believer that food is medicine.

Unfortunately, malnutrition is prevalent in the country, with 29% of children below the age of five nutritionally stunted. Stunting can happen when the child is malnourished themselves or when the mother was malnourished during pregnancy and ends up affecting the child physically, cognitively and emotionally. Preventing stunting is best because while it can be reversed, this typically entails more work and costs than prevention.

With this in mind, the Knowledge Channel Foundation Inc. (KCFI) partnered with the Department of Health’s National Nutrition Council to create “I Love You 1000,” a series on health, nutrition and child protection during the first 1,000 days of a child’s life. We have also developed other programs for child health and nutrition in the past, such as “Kwentong Pambata” and “Payong K-Lusugan.”

Besides educational content, we at KCFI have provided our Knowledge Channel Early Childhood Development (KC ECD) training program to child development workers and teachers, barangay workers and nutrition scholars, parents and caregivers. During the training, they participate in different interactive modules on early childhood—one of which is a nutrition-focused module—and familiarize themselves with the contents of their new Knowledge Channel Portable Media Library for ECD. Most recently, we deployed KC ECD in the 18 barangays of Burgos, Ilocos Norte and Lobo, Batangas, with the help of the New Zealand Embassy and the Rotary Clubs of Rotary International District 3830.

We know that early childhood care is not just limited to health and nutrition and, ideally, we should be taking a more holistic approach. That is why we have programs that focus on the other aspects of ECD as well, such as “Heroes of Zero,” a partnership with Power of Zero and the Philippine Mental Health Association that aims to teach young children about digital literacy, responsible internet use and socio-emotional skills through a series of five animated shorts; and “TalkED,” our online talk show featuring various ECD experts and hosted by Bianca Gonzalez.

Over the years, KCFI has been a strong supporter of ECD in the country because we believe that “early childhood experiences last a lifetime.” Help us continue supporting the ECD sector by donating to the Knowledge Channel through BPI Acct. No. 0201- 0409-14, or learn more about us on our official website: knowledgechannel.org. Please email a copy of your deposit slip to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for recording purposes.

(Story/Photos by:Rina Lopez)