Gov’t, private sector urged to reverse obesity trend

A network of civil society organizations wants the government to help make healthier food accessible to Filipinos, following a warning last week by the World Health Organization (WHO) of the considerable rise of obesity here and abroad.

Citing a Feb. 29 study in the medical journal The Lancet, the WHO said 43 percent of the world’s adult population or 2.5 billion people are now overweight, while 2022 figures showed that 20 percent or over 390 million children and adolescents aged 5 to 19 also struggled with that condition.

Overall, obesity among adults worldwide has more than doubled since 1990 and quadrupled among children and adolescents, according to the study, which has input from the WHO and is based on data from 1990 to 2022 in more than 200 countries.

The figures in the Philippines are more alarming. The prevalence of overweight and obese adults cumulatively rose by 166 percent, from 13 percent in 1990 to 34.6 percent in 2022. This was higher among children and adolescents—from 3.2 percent in 1990 to 14.6 percent in 2022—up by 356 percent in prevalence.

WHO director general Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said efforts to curb the obesity trend must be sustained by “governments and communities” and also require “the cooperation of the private sector, which must be accountable for the health impacts of their products.”

Balanced diet

The Healthy Philippines Alliance (HPA) has emphasized anew that obesity, which is brought about by poor dietary habits and lack of physical activity, may lead to such illnesses as diabetes, heart disease, cancer and chronic kidney disease.

“Consuming an excessive amount of any food is detrimental to your health, leading to an increase in calorie intake and subsequent weight gain. Therefore, it is essential to be conscious of the calories required based on height and level of physical activity for adults and based on age for children,” said nutritionist-dietician Jennina Duatin, who serves in the board of trustees of Diabetes Philippines, an HPA member-group.

She added that “maintaining a well-balanced diet involves consuming appropriate portion sizes of macronutrients like carbohydrates, protein and fats tailored to individual daily calorie needs.”

READ: More than one billion now afflicted by obesity: Lancet

An easy way to achieve a balanced diet and prevent obesity, Duatin said, is to follow the Food and Nutrition Institute’s “Pinggang Pinoy Plate Model”—with half a plate consisting of fresh fruits and vegetables, a quarter filled with whole grains and the remaining quarter dedicated to a healthy source of meat, fish, legumes or seafood.

“Moderation, variety and balance in food choices are key factors in preventing overweight and obesity,” she said.

Compounding the problem is easy access to unhealthy food, especially among children, who are frequently exposed to ultra-processed products that are cheaper and easier to prepare and typically contain excessive amounts of sugar, sodium and fats.

The HPA calls on the government to increase access to affordable healthy food options and enact policies aimed at combating poor dietary habits among Filipinos.

“Government agencies like the Department of Agriculture and local government units (LGUs) should align efforts to improve food security by ensuring that families have access to safe and quality nutritious food to help curb the overweight and obesity problem in our country,” said Maria Fatima Villena, board member of The Policy Center, another HPA affiliate.

“Taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) have reduced consumption, according to the (Food and Nutrition Research Institute), but consumption among high-income households appears unaffected. So we see the need to increase SSB taxes further and pair it with a policy of mandating front-of-pack-labeling on prepackaged food products so that consumers become well-informed and empowered to take charge of their health,” Villena said.

‘Obesogenic environment’

According to Dr. Azucena Dayanghirang, executive director of the National Nutrition Council, the government is already finalizing its multisectoral and multilevel strategic plan for addressing overweight and obesity for the period of 2023 to 2028.

“The world now recognizes that obesity is a disease in itself caused by an obesogenic environment. Thus, addressing obesity will require a whole-of-society and whole-of-government approach—government-led but private sector supported,” she said at a forum on March 5 marking World Obesity Day.

“We know that LGUs play an important role in reducing all forms of malnutrition, and in particular overnutrition,” she added.

Dr. Francesco Branca, director of WHO’s Nutrition and Food Safety Department and one of the coauthors of The Lancet study, said “Countries should also ensure that health systems integrate the prevention and management of obesity into the basic package of services.”