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- Category: Region 9
Sugar-sweetened drinks such as soft drinks, energy drinks, milk shakes, and coffee are more strongly associated with high energy intake and weight gain than any other form of processed food. In the Philippines, a review in the Philippine Journal of Internal Medicine found that 7.2% of Filipinos is reported to be diagnosed with diabetes, equivalent to about 6.3 million Filipinos and about 14.2% of the population in the Philippines already live with the risk of pre-diabetes, or have hyperglycemia or high blood sugar levels. The same study also reported that Filipinos consumed 21.4 g of sugar per capita per day from sugar-sweetened beverages alone.
Too much refined sugar intake is linked to many adverse health conditions such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and tooth decay. Obesity prevalence in the Philippines have remained low relative to other ASEAN countries. Nevertheless, a growing proportion of Filipinos of all ages are overweight or obese which is likely to substantially increase the number of productive years lost due to poor health.
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- Category: Region 9
COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that is known to target a person’s respiratory system. Since its emergence in 2019, the virus remains a threat until the present time and had caused many negative impacts to people of all ages, especially among children. Particularly, COVID-19 has disrupted the environments where children thrive and these interference threaten the rights of the children to survive, to develop, to be protected, to participate safely and fully, and to enjoy a life stage where they can play and express themselves freely. The sufferings within the families, coupled with restricted movement, worsened the risks of children to neglect, exploitative labor, social exclusion, physical, sexual, psychological, offline and online sexual abuse, which existed long before COVID-19.
Read more: 28th NCM aims to uphold Children’s Rights amidst COVID-19 pandemic
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- Category: Region 9
By virtue of Proclamation No. 160 series of 1999, last week of October every year is observed as Food Safety Awareness Week to create public awareness and to educate people in food safety in order to reduce and ultimately eradicate food poisoning and other foodborne illness that may have resulted to death in the Philippines.
Foodborne illnesses or diseases are infections caused by a variety of bacteria, viruses and parasites that are contaminated on consumed foods or beverages. In the Philippines, there were 209 reported foodborne disease outbreaks (FBDOs) for the year 2005-2018 based from the study conducted by Department of Food Science and Nutrition of the University of the Philippines. Common symptoms that can be observed on an infected person on these illnesses are nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps and diarrhea. These symptoms may differ from being severe to being life threatening depending on which type of foodborne illnesses a person was infected.
Read more: Steps to Ensure Safe Food Consumption for your Family
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- Category: Region 9
Iodized salt is a type of table salt made by spraying regular salt with a tiny amount of potassium iodate. One of the known benefits of using iodized salt is providing people with iodine. Iodine is an element needed in trace amounts to maintain normal health, but unfortunately it is not found in the normal diet. It is essential for healthy brain development in the fetus and young child. People are encouraged to add iodized salt into their food, not only to add flavor, but also to get iodine in their diet.
According to World Health Organization (WHO), iodine deficiency is considered a public health problem in 118 countries, and more than 1.5 billion people are believed to be at risk. It’s most common in developing countries where people may lack access to enough healthy food. Signs and symptoms of iodine deficiency includes swelling of the thyroid glands in the neck- this can cause a visible lump, called a goiter, to form on your neck, fatigue, increased sensitivity to cold, constipation, and weight gain among others.
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- Category: Region 9
Bananas are one of the world’s most appealing fruits. They are incredibly versatile fruits that can be used to make refreshing smoothies, add delicious flavor to a baked meal, or simply eaten on-the-go. Bananas have a wide variety of health benefits. According to nutritionist Michael Van Straten, author of The Healthy Food Directory, bananas can alleviate 14 medical conditions, including diarrhea, fatigue, heartburn, insomnia, nausea, menstrual problems, and kidney problems.
Among the banana varieties, the lakatan type (yellowish and tastier) has a higher vitamin content. Compared to apples, bananas have so much more vitamin A and vitamin C. Vitamin C helps protect your body against cell and tissue damage. Moreover, bananas are one of the best fruit sources of Vitamin B6, this kind of vitamin helps your body produce red blood cells, metabolise carbohydrates and fats, turning them into energy, remove unwanted chemicals from your liver and kidneys, and maintain a healthy nervous system. Aside from being an on-the-go snack, they are very known for containing high amount of potassium. A medium-sized banana will provide around 320-400 mg of potassium, which meets about 10% of your daily potassium needs. Potassium helps your body maintain a healthy heart and blood pressure.
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- Category: Region 9
The National Nutrition Council (NNC), World Health Organization (WHO), Department of Health (DOH) and other health and nutrition agencies have been constantly reminding mothers to breastfeed their babies for the first 6 months of the child’s life. Breast milk is good for the baby in many ways. It provides natural antibodies that help your baby resist illnesses, it may raise your child’s intelligence, and may even help your child in later years, by reducing the risk of being overweight, and of developing asthma, type 1 and type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol and other diseases.
Read more: Know the dangers of infant formula for your babies
