A prolonged conflict in Marawi City could increase the child malnutrition rate in the Philippines, the country director of Save the Children Philippines warned Thursday, as the crisis reached its 10th day.

Save the Children Philippines country director Ned Olney said the current hostilities in Marawi City, which has displaced thousands of residents, would almost certainly lead to higher malnutrition rates, including underweight rates, stunting, and wasting.

"Some of these indicators take time, Marawi happened just last week. How long it goes on, if this is an extended crisis where families are scattered and don't have the ability to go back to their homes, then almost likely there will be an increase in malnutrition, disease, and many kids not being able to go to school," he said in a media briefing.

He said that while Filipinos have strong family networks, the duration of the conflict would have a negative effect on society, including an increase in poverty rates.

He noted that this happened after super typhoon Yolanda or Haiyan in 2013.

"The poorest region of the Philippines is the ARMM [Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.] There's a direct correlation between conflict and violence and the poverty rate in the ARMM. There is so much violence, consistent outbreaks of violence in different parts of ARMM as a driver of poverty. There are some areas in ARMM that have 2 out of every 3 children [who] are malnourished. That's as bad as it gets in the Philippines. Some of the other areas are 40 percent," he said in a separate ABS-CBN News interview.

Asked what his message is for President Duterte, he said: "Investment in children is the best investment you can make. That is what is going to take the country forward."

Thousands of residents have fled Marawi (population 200,000), the Philippines' only Islamic city, since the start of hostilities last Tuesday, May 23. A military spokesman earlier said the military has taken control of 90 percent of the city after fighting off Maute rebels and other Islamic militants.

• Army retakes 90 percent of Marawi

WHAT ROBS FILIPINO CHILDHOODS?

Meanwhile, a new report by Save the Children says teenage childbearing, malnutrition, and under-5 mortality are the three biggest challenges faced by Filipino children, and these factors are robbing them of their childhood.

Launched to coincide with International Children's Day, the Stolen Childhoods index has the Philippines at 96th place among 172 countries in the global ranking of best and worst countries for children to grow up. This puts the Philippines behind China (41), Thailand (84) and Vietnam (92) but ahead of Indonesia (101) and Cambodia (117).

Norway and Slovenia topped the index.

The index examined 8 indicators that impact children’s ability to have a safe, happy childhood, including rates of child mortality, under-nutrition, school drop-outs, and early marriage.

The Philippines performed poorly on 3 different indicators: teenage childbearing, under-5 mortality, and severe malnutrition, according to the report.

• Musmos na Ina: In PH, 40 babies born to 10-year-old moms annually

"It all comes down to poverty. When you look at the drivers in those indicators, those things are happening to poor families in much greater numbers," Olney said in a media briefing.

"If you look at teenage pregnancy, for the wealthiest quintile, it's pretty low. And yet, it's really high for the poorest quintile. There's stunting across all economic profiles in the country but it's really really high if you're poor. Poverty is ultimately the driver there and it is not improving."

Dr. Amado Parawan, Save the Children Philippines health and nutrition advisor, said the three indicators - teenage childbearing, under-5 mortality and severe malnutrition - have commonalities, with many malnourished children being cared for by teenage moms.

He said 50 percent of under-5 mortality is due to malnutrition.

Olney noted, undernutrition accounts for over half of the 95 daily child deaths among children under five in the Philippines.

"There are worse childhood stunting rates in ASEAN than the Philippines but they tend to be far poorer countries as well. Just to give you an idea, one of out 3 children in the Philippines was stunted in 2013. In 2015, instead of going down, the stunting rate in the Philippines went up to 33 percent. That is the largest increase in childhood stunting in the last quarter century so something is going wrong," he said.