Filipinos are suffering from malnutrition due to a lack of a healthy diet that provides optimal vitamins and minerals for the body, according to a recent data from the World Bank.
While a healthy diet costs ₱68 per adult every day, the average Filipino household only spent ₱48 for every adult daily, World Bank senior nutrition specialist Nkosinathi Mbuya told media on June 15.
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While most Filipino households consumed 59% more starchy staples than recommended, they also ate more vegetables and fruits than recommended, he said, adding that the World Bank recommends boosting agriculture production specifically to improve dietary diversity in the country.
Noting that the World Bank also underscored the importance of the local government units’ role in combating under-nutrition, Mbuya called for more innovative and competency-based training of barangay health workers on an urgent basis, so that they are equipped to deliver proper services.
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Meanwhile, undernutrition was more clearly witnessed in the high rate of ’stunted’ growth in children, UNICEF data highlighted one in three Filipino children under the age of 5 being stunted, or shorter than expected for a healthy child at that age.
For adults, these people who experienced ‘stunted growth’ would be more likely to earn less income while also becoming more susceptible to illnesses like obesity, heart disease, and diabetes, according to studies by UNICEF and the World Health Organization. (AW)
