LOS BAÑOS, Philippines: Micronutrient deficiency has remained prevalent in the Philippines but cases of obesity have also increased, Philippine Senator Cynthia Villar has said.
“The status of micronutrient malnutrition in our country is a cause for concern,” Villar was quoted as saying by Philippine Star in a recent lecture at the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA).
Citing data from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UN-FAO), Villar reported that iron deficiency disorder or anemia is the most alarming of the micronutrient deficiencies, affecting a considerable proportion of Filipino infants (56.6 percent), pregnant women (50.7 percent), lactating women (45.7 percent) and older males (49.1 percent), the report said.
FAO figures also reportedly show that about four million (32.8 percent) of the preschool population are underweight for their age. Three million (19.8 percent) adolescents and five million (12.2 percent) adults, including older persons, are underweight and chronically energy-deficient.
On the other hand, the incidence of overweight, wasting and stunting that was prevalent among Filipino children before has become common among adolescents and adults, the report pointed out.
“Underweight, stunting and obesity are the root causes of diseases, increase health risks and reduce life expectancy. Potentially fatal conditions associated with obesity include Type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, cancers and gall bladder disease,” Villar reportedly said.
The cumulative cost of all non-communicable diseases, for which obesity is a leading risk factor, was estimated at $1.4 trillion in 2010, the report said.
Its toll on the economy is just as alarming. FAO reportedly pegged at $3.5 trillion per year the economic costs of malnutrition globally, owing to lost productivity and direct health care costs.
“Although hunger statistics are still rising worldwide, it is not anymore merely about feeding or getting fed, but to have the means to grow sufficient nutritionally and culturally acceptable food,” said Villar, also the chairperson of the Senate committee on government corporations and public enterprises.
She cited a 2008 Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) survey showing that Filipinos consumed less and less vegetables over the past three decades. From 145 grams of vegetables per day in 1978, consumption declined to only 110 grams in 2008, reported Philippine Star.
