Assessment on SBFP (School-Based Feeding Program), Nutritional Status and

Academic Performance of Grade IV Pupils in the Division of Bacoor:

Basis for Academic Intervention Program

Chapter 1

The Problem and Its Background

Introduction

School age is the active growing phase of childhood. It is a dynamic period of

physical growth as well as of mental development of the child. Adequate nutrition is

essential in early childhood to ensure healthy growth, proper organ formation and function,

a strong immune system, and neurological and cognitive development. Economic growth

and human development require well-nourished populations who can learn new skills,

think critically and contribute to their communities (Valdoz, 2018).

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), malnutrition is the biggest

contributor to child mortality. It is also found out by by the Food and Nutrition Research

Institute (FNRI, 2019), the current chronic malnutrition rate among Filipino children aged

0 to 2 is at 26.2 percent, the highest in 10 years.

Education is considered as the tool of the country to improve its economy, but how

the government can produce quality education if the students are suffering from

malnutrition and nutrient deficiency. Sen. Risa Hontiveros said, the LGUs should alot a

portion of their IRA [Internal Revenue Allotment] to address malnutrition wherein

vulnerable communities launch of First 1,000 Days Program to address this problem of

under undernutrition. (Ceriaco, 2019). The Department of Education also maintained the

succold School Based Feeding Program (SBFP) for severely wasted learners 20 days.
DepEd Order 18, s 2019, covers all undernourished Kindergarten to Garde Six pupils. It

shall provide feeding to learners for at least 120 days to improve childrens` health,

nutrition vaues and behavior.

In the Division of Bacoor City, it has been a practice of SBFP implementation. In

addition the supplemental feeding program funded by school fund is also indeed

appreciated. Also, some non-government agencies, private individuals conduct an

outreach program which also includes feeding program. The researcher then decided to

assess the relationship SBFP, the nutritional status of the learners to their academic

performance in EPP?

Conceptual Framework

Good health is a resource for everyday life, not the objective of living. Health is a

positive concept emphasizing social and personal resources, as well as physical

capacities. This means that health is a resource to support an individual's function in wider

society. A healthful lifestyle provides the means to lead a full life.

More recently, researchers have defined health as the ability of a body to adapt to

new threats and infirmities. They base this on the idea that modern science has

dramatically increased human awareness of diseases and how they work in the last few

decades on a person who experiences physical health, bodily functions are working at

peak performance, due not only to a lack of disease, but also to regular exercise,

balanced nutrition, and adequate rest. We receive treatment, when necessary, to

maintain the balance. Physical wellbeing involves pursuing a healthful lifestyle to

decrease the risk of disease. Maintaining physical fitness, for example, can protect and
develop the endurance of a person's breathing and heart function, muscular strength,

flexibility, and body composition. (Felman, 2017)

Lawson (2012) School feeding program as a social safety net has been popular in

developing countries as an instrument for achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

These programs are frequently targeted towards populations that are food insecure and

reside in areas with high concentrations of families from low socioeconomic status, or

towards schools that face poor attendance and enrollment of students. There are many

studies that have evaluated the impacts of school feeding. However, the evidence on the

impact of these programs is not always conclusive. Thus by addressing the inadequacies

of the programs in the past, the DepED feeding program has evolved to the current form

of the SBFP. In its current form, the SBFP has retained the main features of the BFP

namely, the 100- 120 feeding day duration; the use of standardized recipes with

malunggay and the 20-day cycle menu, with each meal providing the child with at least

300 additional calories; the establishment of a school-based feeding core group;

involvement of volunteer parents in the preparation of meals and the feeding of children;

devolved procurement and financial reporting procedures; and the prescribed

complementary activities consisting of deworming of the beneficiaries prior to the start of

the feeding program; waste segregation, management and composting; integration of the

Essential Health Care Program in the implementation of the SBFP; and the Gulayan sa

Paaralan Project.

From these ideas and concepts, the researcher then would like to assess

the relationship of the learners` nutrional status and their academic performance in

EPP. The paradigm of the study will be found on the next page.
Paradigm of the Study

INPUT PROCESS OUTPUT

 Identification of
1. Level of SFBP
the Level of
of the
SFBP of the
respondents in
respondents in
terms of Body
terms of Body
mass index
mass index,
2. Nutritional
nutritional Academic
status of the Intervention
status and their Program
respondents
academic
3. Academic
performance in
performance of
EPP
the
 Analysis and
respondents in
interpretation
EPP

Feedback
 This study will adopt the IPO model. The firt block which is called the Input

will include the level of SBFP of the learners in terms of Body Mass iDNex (BMI),

their nutritional status and their academic performance in EPP for the first and

second quarter.

The second block is the Process, this includes the identification of the Level

of SFBP of the respondents in terms of Body mass index, nutritional status and their

academic performance in EPP and the analysis and interpretation.

Teh third block is the Output which will be the result of the inut and process

which is the academic intervention program.

Statement of the Problem

This study determined the relationship of the level of the SBFP of the learner in terms

of BMI, nutrition level and teh academic perofmrance of the respondents in EPP.

Specfically, it seeks to answer the following question:

1. What is the level of SFBP of the respondents in terms of Body mass index?

2. What is the nutritional status of the respondents?

3. What is the academic performance of the respondents in EPP during the first

quarter?

4. IS there any significant relationship on the level of SBFP in terms of body

mass index to the nutritional status of the respondents?

5. IS there any significant relationship on the level of SBFP in terms of body

mass index to the respondents` academic performance in EPP?

 6. IS there any significant relationship on nutritional status of the respondents to

their academic perfroamance in EPP?

7. What program can be developed to improve the academic performance of the

respondents in EPP?

Null Hypothesis

1. There is no significant relationship on the level of SBFP in terms of body

mass index to the nutritional status of the respondents?

2. There is no significant relationship on the level of SBFP in terms of body

mass index to the respondents` academic performance in EPP?

3. There is no significant relationship on nutritional status of the respondents to

their academic perfroamance in EPP?

Significant of the study

Learners - As the beneficiaries of all the programs and projects of the department

this will mean a better means of better participation and discussion during the

teaching and learning process.

Parents – This will create for them the awareness, deeper understanding and

appreciation of the program conducted to the pupils. This will also made them

realize their value and role in the different programs of the schools.

Teachers – This will help them realize teh importance of SBFP or any feeding

program to the realization of quality education among learners.

School Heads – This could give them a clear picture of the SBFP implementation.

This will help them to think of an enhancement of different activties of their

school. Such as promoting and maintanance of good health and nutrional

status of the school popualtion.

Barangay Officials – It will lessen their burder in nourishing their people in the

barangay. It will also a great help to create a productive community which will

enable residents to face more challenges oin works and overcome struggles

in life.

Education Program Supervisor and Health And Nutrition Personnel – The

result of this study will create awareness and provide a better prespective of

the program implementation on what particular area is needed to improve.

Scope and delimitations

This study will primarily concern on determining the relationship of the

respondents` SBFP level, nutrioanl status and their academic performance in EPP.

This will be done during the SY 2019-2020 which the Grade 4 of Bacoor I district

will be the respondents.

Definition of Terms

The following terms will be found in the study and define operationally so as better

inderstanding.

Academic Performance – In this study, this will refer to the respondents` grade in EPP

during the first and second quarter.

Body Mass Index (BMI) – This will refer to the status of the respondents during and

after the SBFP.

Nutritional Status – This will refer to the health status of teh respondents as to their

height and weight wheter its normal, underwight, overweight, stunting, wasted

and severely wasted.

School-Based Feeding Program (SBFP) – This is teh program organized by the

government by allocating fund for 120 days free feeding to the malnourished

children from kindergarten to Grade six pupils.

Severely Wasted - This refer to the nutritional status of the learners and will served as

the basis of identifying the beneficiaries of SBFP.

 CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

Researchers and educators have conducted numerous studies about reading

comprehension and skills of solving word problems. These studies conducted by Filipino

and foreign authors have been reviewed as to provide insights to the present study.

Related Literature
School-Based Feeding Program (SBFP)

The first Food for Education (FFE) program launched by the DepED in 1997 was

a breakfast feeding program intended to address short-term hunger among public school

children. Short-term hunger is a period of hunger experienced by children who have

inadequate breakfast and/or walk long distances to school. Through the years DepED’s

feeding program underwent changes in target beneficiaries, coverage, and service

delivery mode and eventually shifted focus from merely addressing short-term hunger to

that of addressing undernutrition among children enrolled in public elementary schools.

At present, DepED targets severely wasted pupils and, to the extent that the program

budget allows, moderately wasted or wasted (W) pupils for its feeding programs. Severely

wasted (SW) children are those whose weight-forheight is below minus 3 standard

deviations from the median weight-for-height of reference population, while moderately

wasted children have weight-for-height below minus 2 standard deviations from the

median weight-forheight. DepED uses the World Health Organization (WHO) weight-for-

age tables for pre-elementary school children aged 5 years old and below and the WHO
Body Mass Index–for-age tables for pre-elementary, elementary and secondary students

aged 6 to 19 years old in determining nutrition status.

In May 2009, amidst allegations that the bidding for the noodles had been rigged

in 2007 and 2009 and that the noodles were overpriced and lacked nutritive value, the

DepED Secretary cancelled the procurement of P427 million worth of instant noodles and

ordered a review of the entire school feeding program.

In March 2012, the graft and misconduct complaints filed against the incumbent

DepED Secretary and six others were dismissed by the Office of the Ombudsman. The

Ombudsman reportedly found baseless the charge that the biddings were rigged to favor

one bidder, and also found no evidence to hold the officials liable for misconduct and

overpricing, as no proper price comparison was conducted (Salaverria 2012). In 2011,

after conducting a pilot test, the DepED launched the Breakfast Feeding Program (BFP).

The BFP shifted the focus of the feeding program from that of addressing short-term

hunger to one of addressing the more serious case of undernutrition or malnutrition

among elementary children enrolled in public schools (DepED Order No. 80 s. 2011). The

program also strove for more efficient targeting. Rather than feeding all children in a

school included under the program, the BFP targeted undernourished children in

Kindergarten and Grades 1 to 3. Selection of the beneficiary pupils was performed by

school implementers using WHO weight-for-age and BMI-for-age tables for establishing

nutrition status. The beneficiary schools were selected by Regional Health and Nutrition

Units (RHNU) based on prevalence of undernutrition among the school’s pupils and the

capacity of their heads or principals to manage food procurement along with the feeding

program. Food procurement had been decentralized to the schools, possibly to avoid
problems ensuing from centralized procurement and distribution. Thus, training on School

Based Management (SBM), ability to manage, disburse and liquidate funds, and

knowledge on procurement rules and regulations on the part of school heads were part

of the selection criteria for beneficiary schools. The program was renamed the SBFP in

2012 so as not limit the feeding to breakfast time. SBFP also restricted the coverage of

the program to SW children in Kindergarten and Grades 1 to 6 in selected public

elementary schools. In addition, a school could be selected into the program only if it had

no other feeding program.

In SY 14-15, based on the Nutritional Status (NS) report as of SY 11-12, the

national government targeted all the 562,262 SW children enrolled in Kindergarten to

Grade 6 in public schools that school year for DepED’s SchoolBased Feeding program

(SBFP), or about 3.8% of approximately 14.9 million children of the enrollment in public

schools. Previously, DepED had been targeting only a fraction of the total number of SW

pupils due to budget constraints for the program. In SY 13-14, for example, it targeted the

feeding of only 40,361 SW pupils for which it was allocated a budget of only PHP 77.493

M. In SY 14-15, the budget for SBFP was increased by national government to

approximately PHP 1.08 B, commensurate to the increase in number of beneficiaries.

For SY 15-16 the budget was further increased to approximately PHP 2.27 B with

the program now targeting 532,752 SW and 627,403 W pupils enrolled in in Kindergarten

to Grade 6 in public elementary schools. The NS Baseline Report for SY 15-16 had

indicated that there were 532,752 SW and 1,312,935 W pupils enrolled in Kindergarten

to Grade 6 in public elementary schools. Meanwhile no prior evaluation of the SBFP in its

current form has been undertaken by an outside party, presumably because prior to SY
14-15 the low budget of the program circumscribed its potential impact. Given the now

much expanded scale of the program, however, an impact evaluation study is needed to

help government implement the program more effectively and efficiently. This study

presents the results of an impact evaluation study conducted on the implementation of

the SBFP and its complementary activities in SY 13-14. A process evaluation study on

the implementation of the SY 13-14 program had been undertaken earlier (Albert et. al.

2016). The impact evaluation focuses on the implementation of SBFP in SY 13-14 rather

than that in SY 14-15, since the SY 14-15 program covered all SW children enrolled in

public elementary schools. A counterfactual analysis would not have been possible or

would have been difficult to undertake if the study had focused on SY 14-15 program

beneficiaries, as there will be no or very few non-beneficiary (NB) SW pupils to compare

with the beneficiary pupils.

Nutrition versus malnutrition

The latest National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau (NNMB) survey in 2012 reported

36.6 percent and 31 percent of under nutrition respectively among boys and girls of 5-9

years of age from rural area and the overall prevalence of obesity was 0.6 percent and

0.1 percent respectively. In the study of Kamath et. Al. (2015) revealed that about 150

million children in developing countries are still malnourished and more than half of

underweight children live in South East Asia region.

According to Wardlaw (2012)adequate nutrition is essential in early childhood to

ensure healthy growth, proper organ formation and function, a strong immune system,

and neurological and cognitive development. Economic growth and human development
require well-nourished populations who can learn new skills, think critically and contribute

to their communities. Malnutrition remains among the most devastating problems

currently being faced by the majority of the world’s poor.

As of many developing countries malnutrition is one of the most important health

and welfare problems among young children showed that is a result of both inadequate

food intake and illness.Inadequate food intake is a consequence of insufficient food

available at the household level, or improper feeding practices, or both (Hanlon et. Al

2012).

Malnutrition and illness are related in such a way that one can contribute to another.

A malnourished child has poor immune status and more susceptible to frequent illnesses

like acute respiratory tract infections, diarrhea and others. In addition, a child with any of

such acute or chronic illness is more likely to be malnourished. A malnourished child

tends not to learn easily what the teachers discussed because the needs of his or her

stomach pays much of attention.

Malnutrition is a condition that results from taking an unbalanced diet in which

certain nutrients are lacking, in excess, or in wrong proportions. According to the World

Health Organization (WHO), malnutrition is the biggest contributor to child mortality.

Malnutrition is clearly linked to inappropriate feeding practices rather than food availability

or household food security.

According to Bethane et. al (2017) the possible reasons for malnutrition, focusing

on mothers’ lack of contact with health and nutrition services, children’s low levels of

consumption of nonstaple foods, and poor water and sanitation practices.

Ways to prevent Malnutrition

A proper diet is essential from early stages of life for growth and development

(Indian Council of Medical Research cited in Radhamani and Rajeev, 2017) therefore,

prevention of malnutrition should be given a high priority in the implementation of the

ongoing primary health care programs with particular attention paid to the rural population

(Nabag, 2012)

Black et al. (2013) identify two sets of interventions that have potential to improve

nutrition: nutrition-specific interventions (those that address the immediate causes of poor

nutritional status) and nutrition-sensitive interventions (those that address the underlying

determinants of malnutrition).

According to Alcuizar (2016) parents should provide nutritional food to their

children, should know the value of proper nutrition. It is recommended also that teachers

should educate the parents and children on the importance of proper nutrition. Moreover,

Bethane et. Al (2017) conceptualize parental decisions to devote resources to improving

child nutrition as being motivated both by immediate concern about the welfare of their

children and by longer-run concerns about investing in the human capital of their children.

A child’s nutritional status is assumed to appear as an argument in the welfare function

of the households in which they reside, a reflection of the intrinsic value placed on

nutritional status. Welfare is assumed to increase as nutritional status improves, although

possibly at a diminishing rate, and increases in certain measures of nutritional status,

such as body mass, may be associated with reductions in welfare beyond a certain point.

Interestingly in the study of Kansiime (2017)age, gender, other household factors, and
father’s/male caretaker’s education were not significantly associated with the nutritional

status of the under-five children.

Having a functional hand washing facility and safe water for consumption improves

hygiene and sanitation hence reducing exposure to contaminationwhich increases risk of

diarrhealdiseases,whichisaninfectionthatcausesundernutrition (Kikafunda cited in

Kansiime, 2017). Based from the National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau, it was reported

that under-nutrition decreased from 78% in 10-13 years to 66% in 14-17 years. Similar

findings were reported in Akhter(2012) study.This could be because of the early growth

spurt seen in the girls with sudden increase in height in early age group (Beena, 2013)

In the report of Madrazo-Sta Romana (2013), malnutrition especially in children

below 5 years of age may have permanent effects on growth, immunity, physicak and

cignitive development. It i was a chronic case within these years, it may have permanent

damages in teh haleth of the child. This was the main reason why reducing underweight

children was a major millenium goal for developing countries like Philippines.Dasco et al

(2013) presented the nutritional status of Filipino school children based on the 2008

National Survey conducted by FNRI. It was found out that tre was a high prevalence of

underweight in children below 5 years old at 20.7%, stunted as 32.3%, and wasted a

6.8%. For children between 5 to 10 years old, it was found out that 32.4% were

underweight and 33.9% were stunted.

According to Ciriaco (2019) the Korea International Cooperation Agency (Koica)

and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef) in partnership

with the Department of Health and the National Nutrition Council, recently launched an
integrated nutrition and health program targeting the first 1,000 days of life to benefit

vulnerable children and women in Samar, Northern Samar and Zamboanga del Norte.

The Korean government fully supports the Philippine government in its goal of

addressing malnutrition and achieving universal health care. By giving assistance to this

project, the most vulnerable—mothers and children ages 0 to 5 years old—will be ensured

access to vital health and nutrition services, which will help them develop fully later in life.

The support from Koica amounts to $6 million and targets 19 local government units in

three provinces, namely Samar and Northern Samar in Region 8 and Zamboanga del

Norte in Region 9. Expected reach through the initiative will be 12,000 infants 0 to 5

months old, 36,000 6 to 23 months old, including children from poor families and children

from geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas; and 57,000 pregnant and

lactating women. It also aims to improve the LGUs’ policy, governance frameworks and

service delivery systems and enhance the capacity of 1,370 nutrition and health

personnel.

Related Studies

Sumabalan (2013) illustrtate the effects of Busog-Lusog Talino (BLT) Feeding

Program to the nutritional status and academic performance of Grade 2 pupils. The study

concluded that teh BLT program not onlyimproved the butritional status of the

respondents but also increased their academic performance level. Also, Rohner et al

(2013) took another perspective by viewing the effect of child feeding behavior on

stuntung, underwieght, and lack of nutrients found in young Filipino children. This survey

was conducted in 5 urban areas and data gathered on 1784 respondents. Result showed

that 26% of teh children were stunted, 18% were underwieght, 5% were wasted, 42%
anemic, 28% iron dificient, and 3% were Vitamin A deficient. Findings confiremd that teh

relationship of socio-econimic status, use of cheaper cooking oil and absence of

multivitamins intake with stunting.

The study of Kashif et. Al investigated the differences in academic performance

scores of children who had an iron deficiency and those who had none. The study

revealed that the iron dificient children seemed to have lower levels of performance

scores rather than those who arenon-anemic. Findings validated intial reserach that the

lack of iron may have physiological and developmental concequences in school children.

Shaw et. Al (2015) also showed the relationship between students` health and academic

success is complex.

Rajaeev (2014) revealed that unresolved challenge after decades of multiple

interventions is malnutrition, specifically under nutrition among children.From the study of

Murray et al. (2013), proper nutrition was identified as key elements that influence

children’s academic performance. Likewise, living condition and school related factors on

instructional facilities, equipment available and training of teachers, and participation in

sports identified as factors that influence pupils’ academic performance. According to

Park, ( 2013) nutrition is the cornerstone of socio-economic development and that

nutritional problems are not just medical problem but multifactorial with roots in many

other sectors of developments such as education.

The prevalence of under nutrition among school age children is very high which

calls for immediate attention. The birth weight is a strong predictor of nutritional status.

This study gave evidence for the gaps and inadequacies of existing nutritional

interventional program in the country. The Composite Index of Anthropometric Failure is

a valuable tool to assess the nutritional status of children as it provides a single and

precise estimate as well as disaggregated estimates of exact condition. Each Mid-Day

Meal Scheme is advantageous to the children from low socioeconomic classes, yet it has

to be strengthened to provide quality nutritional food in order to ensure good health and

optimum growth of the children (Rajaeev, 2014)

In the study of Jushie et. Al (2014) majority of rural adolescent girls were under

nourished. There was significant association between socio-economic status (SES) and

nutritional status of adolescent girls. Nutritional status has profound effect on health and

school performance of adolescent girls.

The result of the study of Radhamani1, S V Rajeev2 (2017) showed that the

nutritional status of the children in studied population was good comparing with other

studies. Nutrition, health education and good access, and utilization of healthcare can be

very effective interventions which could result in substantial reduction in undernutrition in

children.

School performance includes the reading ability of the learners. Thus good

nutrition develops reading and reading comprehension achievable.

Hansen (2016) confirms the need for explicit reading instruction in order to achieve

sufficient reading comprehension. There are many elements to consider in the instruction

of reading, but most of them are relevant for all subjects, and learning them and

implementing them in teaching will not be too time-consuming. Focusing on vocabulary

is of high importance in the teaching of English, and ought to be focused upon in English

teaching as well as in other subjects as there will always be unfamiliar words, phrases,

and concepts in all subjects.

 Numerous research endorses many strategies on teaching reading today. Seif

(2012) demonstrated that higher order cognitive skills in reading comprehension

exercises are not well covered, not well treated nor well distributed. There is a lack of

progression from the lower cognitive skills to the higher ones.According to Rahman and

Hassan (2013) health education for nutrition and healthy balanced diet should be

integrated in the curriculum.

Tamayo (2016) concluded that SBFP provided benefits to school children in terms

of improved nutrional status,improved school attendance, increased alertness and

attentiveness in class and better social behavior. Moreover, Yamaguchi and Takagi

(2018) concluded also that SBFP seems to produce good yearly achievements in terms

of some original aims. However, nutritional problems of the students and the shortage of

human resources remain.

In the study of Zenebe et. Al (2018) there is a positive effects of the school feeding

program in improving the Dietary Diversity Score (DDS), nutritional status, and class

attendance of school children. In this section, the number of days the child was absent

from school was compared between the two groups. According to the mothers,

absenteeism was reported more frequently among non-beneficiaries (91.0%) than

beneficiary children (49.7%). The main reported reason for absence among non-

beneficiaries was hunger (42.8%) while the leading reason in the other group was

domestic workload (27.6%). Also, from the research findings in the study of Otieno (2014)

clear that school feeding programme plays a significant role in the pre- academic

performance. It is also clear that lack of school feeding programme in most of the pre-
schools has been among the contributors of poor performance among the pre-school

children.

In the study of Soliman et. Al (2018) revealed that parents’ education and pupils’

concurrent body mass index (BMI) are positive explanatory factors correlated with the

final grade. Differing from many studies where mother’s education had commonly been a

dominant and only parent gender significant factor to pupils’ academic achievement, the

study revealed that under circumstances of poor family economic status the education of

fathers had higher association than mothers’. Concurrent BMI (i.e., measured while the

school feeding was implemented) is significantly linked to pupils’ grades providing

evidence for the need in sustaining good nutrition from school to the home.

Schoolchildren under varying low levels of nutritional status and with low parents’

education are predisposed to low academic performance. Implications of the findings to

improving school feeding monitoring were elucidated. Furthermore, Adekunle et. Al

(2016) showed that pupils are fed daily through the school feeding programme (87%),

which is funded through cost sharing between the State and local governments (78%). It

was also found that the school feeding programme in Osun State has resulted in an

increase in pupils’ enrolment (78.4%), retention (44.8%), as well as regularity (58.6%)

and punctuality (69%) in school attendance. It has also enhanced the pupils’ performance

in curricular and extracurricular activities (55.2%).

Meanwhile the study of Yohannes (2017) revealed that the positive effect of

School Feeding Program on academic achievement and attendance is not significant.

Moreover, the program has not effect on children’s’ attention measure. However, the

small positive effect of the program is detected on academic achievement and attendance
score and this effect is more viable to academic achievement. At the end, the study

recommends that all stake holders working on School Feeding Program need to focus at

mezzo and macro level interventions to enhance the program effectiveness.

 CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter provides the discussions of the research design and method the

researcher will take towards the realtiosnhip of SBFP, nutritonal status and teh

academic performance of the learners. The sources of data, respondents,

instrument and procedure will clearly explained. The statistical treatmet of data will

likwise be presented.

Research Design
The study will use the descriptive research specifically the correlational and

comparative type of study. According to Waters (2017), a correlation is simply

defined as a relationship between two variables. The whole purpose of using

correlations in research is to figure out which variables are connected. A

correlational study is a quantitative method of research in which two or more

quantitative variables from the same group of participants, are trying to determine if

there is a relationship. In this study, the three variables will be the SBFP level of the

learners in temrs of BMI, nutritional status and the academic performance in EPP of

the respondents. Moreover, Spata (cited in Kumah, 2015), states that comparative

research may examine differences and similarities between the variables of the

study. It examines differences between people who may belong to the same

dominant culture.

Population and Sampling Technique

 To determine the sample of the study, the purposive sampling technique will be

use. According, Gentels et.al (2016) this type of sampling of non-probability sampling that

is most effective when one needs to study a certain cultural domain with knowledgeable

experts within.

The researcher will use the purposive sampling to prove the relationship of the

SBFP level in terms of BMI, nutritional status, and the academic performance of Grade

IV pupils

Respondents of the Study

All the grade IV pupils of Bacoor I District who are included as beneficiaries

in the SBFP will be the respondents. Table 1 will show the distribution of the

respondents.

Table 1

Distribution of Respondents

School Total Population Number of

Beneficiaries in SBFP
1. Bacoor ES
2. Digman ES
3. Dulong Bayan ES
4. Gov. PF ES
5. Habay ES
6. Mabolo ES
7. Maliksi ES
8. Poblacion ES
9. Real ES
10. Salinas ES
11. Sineguelasan ES

Research Instrument
 The researcher will use the standard tool in determining the BMI and nutritional

status of the learner. Each respondent will be measured by their weight and height to

compute for their BMI to define their nutritional status. In terms of the academic

performance, their quarterly grades will be used.

Data Gathering Procedure

The researcher will ask permission from the superintendent to conduct the study.

After which, a coordination with thecoordinating principal of Bacoor I Districtwill also done.

To ensure that the policy of the disruption of classes will be observed, the researcher will

personally coordinate to the different school heads included in this study. The

participation of the SBFP Coordinator and the School Clinic Teacher will be important, so

the researcher will also ask for the data needed for data analysis.

Statistical Treatment of Data

To describe, picture, interpret and analyze the data gathered in this study, the

reseacrher listed the following statistical tool:

1. Percentage- This was used to determine and describe the distribution of

respondents according to their nutrional status

2. Frequency- This statistical tool was used to determine the distribution of the level

of SBFP in terms of BMI.

3. Pearson r – This was used to determine the relationship that exists between the

level of SBFP, respondents’ nutritional status and their academic performance in

EPP.