Cynthia Villar pushes for immediate passage of anti-obesity bill

Sen. Cynthia Villar, the chairperson of the Committee on Agriculture, Food and Agrarian Reform, speaks during one of the Senate hearings in this file photo taken in March 2023. Senate PRIB file photo / Voltaire F. Domingo

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Cynthia Villar has sought the immediate passage of a measure to address the alarming rates of obesity in the country.

According to Villar, her Senate Bill No. 2230, or the Anti-Obesity Act of 2023, “aims to establish a comprehensive nationwide anti-obesity campaign to control and prevent obesity among Filipinos.”

“I submit that it is crucial for the government, in line with its duty to look after the health of all Filipinos, to acknowledge obesity as a growing problem among us,” she said in the explanatory note of the bill she filed this week.

“With that recognition, it’s high time that we come together to put proactive and comprehensive plans into action to curb this health issue. Hence, I seek the immediate passage of this bill,” she said.

The senator noted that about 800 million individuals worldwide are affected by obesity, “predisposing them to a higher risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and certain types of cancers.”

In the Philippines,  the number of overweight and obese Filipinos has reached  27 million, as earlier reported by the Department of Science and Technology’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute, the senator said.

“If no proactive measures are undertaken, the overall rates of overweight and obesity are projected to continue rising, potentially resulting in over 30% of Filipino adolescents being overweight or obese by 2030,  Villar also said, citing the “Landscape Analysis on Overweight and Obesity in Children, Philippines.”

Obesity was defined in her bill as an “excess proportion of total body fat usually diagnosed when a person’s weight is at least 20% more than his or her average or ideal weight.

“It is usually measured in body mass index, and is affected by, but not limited to, age, gender, genetics, environmental factors, physical activity, psychological factors illness and medication,” it further said.

The bill then proposed the creation of a  multi-sectoral committee led by the Department of Health to implement a National Anti-Obesity Prevention and Control Program.

The committee would be tasked to promote awareness and prevention programs, provide provisions for consultations at the nearest health centers, and conduct information and education campaigns on the prevention and control of obesity, among others.

RELATED STORIES:

Lawmaker pushes for nutrition data on restaurant menus

 Obesity drug brings heart health benefit alongside weight loss – study 

JPV/abc