Hunger down in third quarter, survey shows

Some 2.4 million families, or 10.6 percent, experienced involuntary hunger at least once in the last quarter, the lowest number since hitting 7.4 percent in March 2004, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) said in its latest poll released on Wednesday.

The latest hunger level is also lower than the 15.2 percent, or 3.4 million families, posted in June, SWS said.

The Third Quarter Social Weather Survey, conducted on Sept. 24-27, also found that 9.1 percent or 2.1 million families experienced “moderate hunger” (hunger “only once” or “a few times”), while 1.5 percent or 329,000 families experienced “severe hunger” (hunger “often” or “always).

Overall hunger incidence dipped across all areas, ranging from 7.3 percent in Metro Manila and 13 percent in the Visayas, from 17 percent and 15.7 percent in June, respectively.

Among the self-rated poor, hunger was at 16.7 percent, while it was at 20.5 percent among the self-rated food-poor, SWS said.