Malnutrition is still one of the major health problems in school children and could be considered deadlier than the swine flu plague, a partylist representative said today.

“While swine flu is a threat, malnutrition remains a deadlier menace to students’ well-being this school opening and the government has continuously overlooked this through the years,” Kabataan partylist Rep. Raymund Palatino said.

Palatino cited that 21 percent of students are malnourished. In the elementary level, 37 percent have iron deficiency anemia, 36 percent have Vitamin A deficiency, and 67 percent have intestinal helminthiasis.

He noted that there is only one designated doctor for every 80,000 students, one dentist for 20,000 students, and one school nurse for every 5,000 students.

“These are the glaring conditions of our health system in public schools. We blame this on lack of doctors, nurses and medical facilities in our schools because of very low education spending,” Palatino said.