A public health concern

Philippine Daily Inquirer / 05:03 AM September 11, 2022

About a fourth of the country’s total population is overweight and obese

and the number is projected to further increase by the end of the decade,
particularly among Filipino adolescents. That risk is heightened by the
unregulated access of young students to sweetened drinks and junk food,
which could later cause debilitating illnesses like heart disease,
hypertension, diabetes, and cancer — among the leading causes of death
in the country.

Department of Health (DOH) officer in charge Maria Rosario Vergeire

called the rise in obesity a “public health concern” and urged lawmakers
to introduce additional excise taxes on sweetened beverages, junk food,
and “nonstaple” food high in salt, fat, and calorie content. “This is already
a public health concern because we know that they are at high risk to
develop these diseases,” said Vergeire.

This is not the first time that the government has eyed a higher sugar levy and a new
tax on junk food. Two years ago, the Department of Finance already proposed the
measures to raise much-needed funds for the government’s COVID-19 response. The
call for the two tax measures is now being revived amidst concerns over Filipinos’
unhealthy diets worsened by the pandemic, when lockdowns forced people to
maintain sedentary lifestyles and depend on take-out food that is usually packed with
high sodium and calorie content.
Last March, the DOH, together with other organizations including the World Health
Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), raised the alarm on
growing obesity in the country and called for a whole-of-society approach. They cited
the latest survey by the Department of Science and Technology’s Food and Nutrition
Research Institute showing that about 27 million Filipinos were overweight and obese.
The number of overweight and obese adults almost doubled from 20.2 percent in 1998
to 36.6 percent in 2019, while that of adolescents more than doubled from 4.9 percent
in 2003 to 11.6 percent in 2018. “If no action is taken, overall rates of overweight and
obesity will continue to rise. It is projected that more than 30 percent of Filipino
adolescents will be overweight and obese by 2030,” Unicef warned.
To add to the efforts of curbing unhealthy eating habits, especially among the youth, a
senator has filed a bill banning junk food and sugary drinks from primary and
secondary schools, arguing that healthy food plays an important role in the learning
and cognitive development of children. Senate Bill No. 1231 seeks to fine owners or
operators of canteens, eateries, or restaurants selling unhealthy food and drinks inside
the premises or within 100 meters of public or private schools, as well as suspend
their license.
Two similar measures have been filed at the House of Representatives. One of the
bills cites the Department of Education’s Department Order No. 13, series of 2017,
which directs schools to ensure that the food and drinks available to students are
healthy and nutritious. It noted that children spend a large portion of their time in
schools, where parents are unable to monitor what they eat. These junk food and
sweetened drinks, experts said, are marketed particularly toward children, with some
even claiming “health benefits” such as providing them with more energy and
“vitamins.”
But the burden of ensuring healthy eating habits shouldn’t be placed on schools alone.
The documentary “Junk Food Kids: Who’s To Blame” took a look at why one-third of
British children were overweight or obese by examining their eating habits,
particularly at home. A boy was diagnosed to have fatty liver, at 13 years old—a
disease that is common among middle-aged obese adults. A four-year-old child
suffered from rotten teeth, which the doctor blamed on sweets and hygiene, and had to
have surgery to remove them. The doctors in the documentary said the root of the
problem for these obese children was not medical—it was what they ate at home. A
mother, when asked about the unhealthy food her children consumed at home, replied
that it was “convenient.”
Convenience is obviously the most common reason why children turn to unhealthy
food—they’re very accessible and readily available. Banning them from schools and
taxing them can discourage students and their parents from buying them in the first
place. If the excise tax on tobacco products helped curb the country’s smoking
problem—the DOH claimed smoking prevalence decreased to 20 percent in 2019
from 31 percent in 2008—then an excise tax on unhealthy food products can also help
address the junk food problem.
Studies have shown that overweight and obese children are likely to be obese as adults
and develop diseases that could cause death. The obesity problem, however, remains
to be overlooked because much of the focus has been on hunger and malnutrition—
yet it is time for the government, nongovernment organizations, and families to work
together in providing interventions to reduce the obesity problem. It is not only a
fundamental right for every child to have adequate nutrition—it will also ensure that
the country will have healthy, productive adults in the future.

https://opinion.inquirer.net/156869/a-public-health-concern