MAKATI CITY—Oh My Gulay!

An advocacy to combat widespread vitamin and mineral deficiency afflicting millions of Filipino schoolchildren has gained multi-sectoral support following a successful kickoff Friday at the Manila Polo Club.

And celebrities like Anne Curtis, Mark Bautista and Sarah Geronimo will help promote the campaign.

According to Senator Edgardo Angara, author of the Children’s Health Insurance Bill and the Child Nutrition Act of the Philippines, the success of OMG! to fight hidden hunger hinges on broad multi-sectoral collaboration.

Angara said the country’s solution to “hidden hunger” is literally right in the backyard.

The Oh My Gulay! campaign aims to promote the growing of vegetables as a low-cost but effective solution to fight malnutrition on our schoolchildren.

“There’s a way to fight this so-called ‘hidden hunger’–by eating vegetables loaded with vitamins and minerals which are vital to school-age children. The key is to get kids involved in planting, growing and harvesting these veggies, whether at home or in school, so they become more eager to eat them,” he said.

“The link between health and academic performance is undeniable. One out of every four Filipino preschool children is malnourished, so it’s no wonder that so many kids are doing poorly in school,” he lamented.

The Department of Agriculture (DA), Department of Education, Department of Health, Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the Department of Science and Technology are some of the government agencies that have pledged all-out support for the Oh My Gulay! campaign.

The DA’s Bureau of Plant and Industry, DOST’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute and the National Nutrition Council are also tapped to help in the implementation of the program.

Businessmen, philanthropists, and advocates from the private sector are also backing the OMG! campaign. ABS-CBN, Viva Entertainment, Nestle, Unilever, Wyeth and many other big companies have joined the program to combat malnutrition.

The OMG! project is a multimedia campaign that intends to reach the farthest corners of the country. Television commercials, print and online ads will be utilized to popularize growing and eating of vegetables.