TL;DR: School Form 8 (SF8) is DepEd's Learner's Basic Health and Nutrition Report. The class adviser or MAPEH teacher, helped by the school nurse where there is one, measures each learner's height and weight at the start of the school year, computes Body Mass Index, and records a nutritional status classification, with a repeat measurement to check improvement before the year ends. The form was standardised by DepEd Order No. 58, s. 2017. Its results matter beyond the filing cabinet: under DepEd Order No. 013, s. 2026, learners in Kindergarten to Grade 6 classified as wasted, severely wasted, stunted or severely stunted are primary beneficiaries of the School-Based Feeding Program.
Of the ten numbered School Forms, SF8 is the one most likely to change something concrete in a child's day, because a classification recorded on it can put that child in a feeding programme, a deworming round, or a medical referral. It is also the form most often misdescribed online, usually with the wrong category labels. This guide covers what SF8 records, who measures, what the nutritional status terms mean under the World Health Organization standards DepEd uses, and what happens after a learner is flagged. For the rest of the numbered set, see our guide to DepEd school forms SF1 to SF10.
What Is School Form 8?
SF8 is the Learner's Basic Health and Nutrition Report. It was introduced by DepEd Order No. 58, s. 2017, "Adoption of New Forms for Kindergarten, Senior High School, Alternative Learning System, Health and Nutrition, and Permanent Records," which added it to the seven modified forms already in use under DepEd Order No. 4, s. 2014. The order describes SF8 as a record of the learners' health and nutritional assessment and gives it two codes, SF8 and SF8-SHS, covering Kindergarten, elementary, junior high and senior high.
One line in that order explains why the form exists at all: SF8 "replaces all other school forms on nutritional status with the same data elements related to BMI." Before 2017, nutritional status was collected several times over in different formats. SF8 made it one record.
Disclaimer: nutritional classifications on a school form are screening results, not medical diagnoses. If your child is flagged, follow up with the school nurse, a rural health unit, or a doctor rather than acting on a spreadsheet entry alone.
Who Does the Measuring, and When?
The class adviser or the MAPEH teacher, with the school nurse assisting where a school has one. DepEd Order No. 58, s. 2017 puts the timing at the beginning of the school year, with the measurement repeated as deemed necessary to measure improvement before the end of the school year. In practice that means a baseline round early in the year and an end-of-year round to show change.
SF8 has survived DepEd's push to cut teacher paperwork. DepEd Order No. 006, s. 2025, "Guidelines on the Streamlining of School Forms and Reports Accomplished by Teachers," still lists "School Form 8 - Learner's Basic Health and Nutrition Report" among the forms a teacher may be required to accomplish as part of the Homeroom Guidance and Management ancillary task.
| SF8 at a glance | Detail |
|---|---|
| Official name | School Form 8 - Learner's Basic Health and Nutrition Report |
| Codes | SF8, SF8-SHS |
| Levels covered | Kindergarten, elementary, junior high, senior high |
| Adopted by | DepEd Order No. 58, s. 2017 |
| Measured by | Class adviser or MAPEH teacher, assisted by the school nurse |
| Timing | Beginning of school year, repeated before year end |
| Issued to parents | No, it is a school record |
What Is Recorded on SF8?
Per learner: name and Learner Reference Number, sex, birthdate and age, weight in kilograms, height in metres, the computed Body Mass Index, the BMI-for-age classification, and the height-for-age classification. Most schools now use an automated spreadsheet version that computes BMI and the classifications from the raw measurements, which reduces arithmetic errors but does not change what the form asks for. If you want to know which number matters for your child, it is not raw BMI: it is the age-and-sex-adjusted category.
The Learner Reference Number is what ties an SF8 entry to the same child across school years and across schools, which is what allows a division to see whether a learner improved or slipped.
What Do the Nutritional Status Labels Mean?
DepEd uses the World Health Organization Child Growth Standards, and the definitions are spelled out in DepEd Order No. 013, s. 2026, the current institutional guidelines for the School-Based Feeding Program.
| Label | Measure | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| Severely wasted | BMI-for-age | Below the -3 z-score line |
| Wasted | BMI-for-age | Between the -2 and -3 z-score lines |
| Severely stunted | Height-for-age | Less than -3 from the median |
| Stunted | Height-for-age | Less than -2 to -3 from the median |
The two axes answer different questions. Wasting is about thinness now, a child who is too light for their height and age, and it can change within months. Stunting is about height for age, the accumulated effect of poor nutrition and repeated infection over years, and it does not reverse quickly. DepEd Order No. 013, s. 2026 defines an undernourished child as one supplied with less than the minimum amount of foods essential for sound health and growth, including children who are wasted, severely wasted or stunted.
How Does SF8 Connect to School Feeding?
This is the practical payoff of the form. Under DepEd Order No. 013, s. 2026, the primary beneficiaries of the School-Based Feeding Program are learners from Kindergarten to Grade 6 classified as wasted, severely wasted, stunted or severely stunted, together with learners at risk of dropping out, indigenous peoples learners, learners from indigent families, pregnant adolescent learners, enrolled adolescent mothers, and undernourished learners from vulnerable and marginalised groups beyond Grade 6. Secondary beneficiaries, taken in subject to funds, include learners in indigenous peoples schools and last-mile schools with 100 learners or fewer, learners in Special Needs Education, ALS learners and members of school sports clubs.
The order sets feeding at a minimum of 120 feeding days, extendable to a maximum of 220 including academic breaks or summer remediation, and provides for fortified meals over 200 feeding days for SY 2026-2027, subject to fund availability. Before feeding starts, schools are directed to perform initial nutritional assessments, conduct deworming, administer micronutrient supplementation, and refer wasted and severely wasted learners for further medical assessment and intervention.
That sequence is the reason the SF8 baseline round happens early: a school cannot target meals it has not measured for. If you are budgeting around meals your child still needs at school, our guide to baon and food budgets covers the everyday side.
What Should a Parent Ask About SF8?
- Ask for your own child numbers. Height, weight and the BMI-for-age category, not just "normal" or "not normal." You are entitled to your child's information.
- Ask which measure was flagged. Wasted and stunted are different problems with different timelines and different responses.
- Ask whether a referral was made. A severely wasted flag should trigger referral for further medical assessment under the feeding programme guidelines.
- Ask whether a feeding slot actually exists. Eligibility on paper and a funded slot at your school are two different things, and the order itself makes coverage subject to available funds.
- Ask again at the end of the year. The repeat measurement is the point; a single reading tells you far less than the change between two.
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Sources
- DepEd Order No. 58, s. 2017 - Adoption of New School Forms for Kindergarten, SHS, ALS, Health and Nutrition, and Standardization of Permanent Records
- DepEd Order No. 013, s. 2026 - Institutional Guidelines on the Implementation of the School-Based Feeding Program
- DepEd Order No. 006, s. 2025 - Guidelines on the Streamlining of School Forms and Reports Accomplished by Teachers
- DepEd Order No. 4, s. 2014 - Adoption of the Modified School Forms (SFs) for Public Elementary and Secondary Schools
- TeacherPH - School Form 8: Learner's Basic Health and Nutrition Report
- SchoolFinderPH - DepEd School Forms SF1 to SF10
- SchoolFinderPH - Learner Reference Number Guide
- SchoolFinderPH - Baon and Food Budget for Students
