In 1997, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared obesity to be a critical concern for public health and an epidemic. The definitions of overweight and obesity include excessive or abnormal fat accumulation that could affect one's health. Obesity is described as a paradoxical form of malnutrition that, although consuming an excessive amount of energy, is linked to a deficiency in specific micronutrients. In addition to poor dietary choices and limited access to nutrient-rich foods, micronutrient deficiencies can also emerge from changes in nutrient absorption, distribution, or excretion, as well as from altered micronutrient metabolism resulting from systemic inflammation driven by obesity.
Obesity affects 800 million individuals globally, according to UNICEF (2022), meanwhile in the Philippines there are around 27 million Filipinos who are obese. Adult overweight and obesity rates have nearly doubled over the previous 20 years, rising from 20.2% in 1998 to 36.6% in 2019. Similarly, from 4.9% in 2003 to 11.6% in 2018, the prevalence rates of overweight and obesity among teenagers have more than doubled.
With these devastating figures it is certain that the prevalence of overweight and obesity will increase unless something is done. Moreover, results from Landscape Analysis on Overweight and Obesity in Children, Philippines anticipates that by 2030, over 30% of Filipino adolescents will be overweight or obese.
Furthermore, the government and its partnered agencies continue to implement a number of strategies to combat malnutrition in the form of obesity. The National Nutrition Council (NNC) as the country’s highest policy-making and coordinating body on nutrition, strongly advocates policies and guidelines on addressing obesity in the country.
Executive Director Assistant. Secretary Azucena M. Dayanghirang has stated that ‘‘The National Nutrition Council (NNC) coordinates the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN) which includes the Overweight and Obesity Prevention and Management Program to promote healthy environments in priority settings including communities, schools, and workplaces’’. Through the creation of the successor PPAN for 2023–2028, the NNC will continue to work cooperatively across sectors to effectively address the growing concern over obesity through the formulation of the successor PPAN for 2023–2028.
Hence, everyone plays an important role to achieve the advocacies on nutrition. We are all encourage to join hands as we work towards curbing the obesity epidemic.
//Jessabell B. Mondano, CMU Intern
References:
Dela Cruz, RC. (2021). DOH, int'l orgs call for action against childhood obesity. Philippine News Agency. Retrieved from https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1132562
Haththotuwa, R., Wijeyaratne, C., Senarath, U. (2020). Chapter 1 - Worldwide epidemic of obesity. Obesity and Obstetrics (Second Edition). Elsevier. ISBN 9780128179215. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-817921-5.00001-1
Kobylińska, M., Antosik, K., Decyk, A., & Kurowska, K. (2022). Malnutrition in Obesity: Is It Possible?. Obesity facts, 15(1), 19–25. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1159/000519503
United Nations Children’s Fund, (2022). Everybody Needs to Act to Curb Obesity. United Nations Children’s Fund. Retrieved from https://www.unicef.org/philippines/press-releases/everybody-needs-act-curb-obesity
World Health Organization. (2021). Obesity and Overweight. World Health Organization. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/obesity-and-overweight
