SWS: More Filipinos facing hunger in 2nd quarter 2023

Malnutrition/hunger. Stock image. INQUIRER

MANILA, Philippines — More Filipinos suffer from hunger.

The June 2023 Social Weather Stations (SWS) Second Quarter study released Wednesday found that 10.4 percent of Filipino families experienced “involuntary hunger” at least once between March to June 2023.

The figure was higher than March 2023’s 9.8 percent but lower than December 2022’s 11.8 percent.

Metro Manila and “Balanced Luzon” saw more Filipinos go hungry, SWS reported, raising the total hunger rate by 0.6 points.

Specifically, involuntary hunger rose five points in National Capital Region (NCR).

From 10.7 points in March 2023, the figure went up to 15.7 percent in June 2023.

In various Metro Manila locations,  involuntary hunger rose by 2.6 points.

Lack of access to food was also confirmed in places near NCR.

It was at 8.7 percent in June this year, up from 6.3% last March.

On the other hand, the involuntary hunger rate hardly changed in the Visayas.

It was 9.7 percent in March 2023 and 9.3 percent in June of the same year.

Meanwhile, in Mindanao, the numbers decreased.

Hunger’s record fell by 5.4 points in the South, from 11.7 percent to 6.3 percent within the same period.

SWS noted the involuntary hunger rate in June 2023 was 8.3 percent who experienced “moderate hunger” and 2.1 percent who suffered from “severe hunger.”

The agency defines involuntary hunger as “being hungry and not having anything to eat.”

Moderate hunger refers to being involuntarily hungry “only once” or “a few times” in the last three months.

Severe hunger refers to a condition that persons go through “often” or “always.”

The research was conducted from June 28 to July 1.

SWS gathered information through face-to-face interviews with 1,500 adults, 18 years old and above, nationwide.

It involved 600 respondents in suburbs outside Metro Manila and 300 interviewees in NCR, Visayas, and Mindanao.

The sampling error margins are ±2.5% for national percentages.

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