Gertie Elaine L.

Bercilla BSN 2-3 NURS 06 October 23, 2023

Activity 2.2
Nutrition vs Inflation

Inflation rate is the speed at which the prices of goods spike up; 2%-3% is
considered as the "healthy inflation rate" to keep the economy balanced. However, as of
September 2023, the inflation rate of the Philippines rose to 6.1% which is considered
as high inflation (What Is Hyperinflation? Causes, Effects, Examples, and How to
Prepare, n.d.). With this rate of inflation, lower middle-class Filipinos already struggle
with buying necessities and foods to their table with their income being insufficient to the
price of different products, which makes us think, how much more does the lower class
struggle due to this high inflation rate? This further proves that the biggest victims of a
high inflation rate are those in the marginalized area as well as those lower middle-class
income earners.

According to Government PH (2020), Lower Class Filipinos are those that earn
less than 9,520 pesos, but in reality, it would be fortunate of them to even earn a total of
at least 2 or 3 thousand pesos in a month. In addition, most of the poverty-stricken ones
are large families which makes it harder for them to provide the needs of every family
member. Due to these factors, families from marginalized sectors deal a lot more
frequently with hunger since most of the things that increase price are those essential
goods and services that one usually buys to sustain the needs of the body (Villanueva,
2022). They have to give up feeding certain nourishments that the body needs because
they simply cannot afford to buy that product. The best example of this is milk for infants
and toddlers. Most low-income families would just serve coffee as a breakfast for their
children because it is the only thing affordable that they can eat according to their
budget for the whole day. Coffee is an affordable food for them and it somehow satiates
their hunger but they don't get the nutrition that they need from those products; the
same thing with instant noodles, and junk foods that they normally consume.

Because of this problem, individuals and families from these sectors suffer from
severe malnutrition and are prone to other types of diseases due to lack of nutrition,
especially the children living in poverty. They don't get enough nutrition that they need
and they develop illnesses or diseases as they grow up due to their weak constitution
and immune system. Some don't even reach adulthood and die prematurely due to the
toll of malnutrition in their body, or in short, they die of hunger. Aside from them,
pregnant women suffer just as much from malnutrition. Because of the inflation, they
cannot afford to buy the foods and products needed for their body and the development
of the child they're carrying. In the end, they just endure the hunger, they don't get the
proper nutrition their body and their baby needs, and their health continues to
deteriorate as they go through more pregnancies (due to lack of family planning which is
another problem that the government should counter). This results in passing of
malnutrition over the generations in their family and even death in the worst-case
scenarios.

The government is way too responsible for this problem. Had there been proper
opportunities for the poverty-stricken such as job opportunities and access to education,
these problems would not foster further especially for them. The problem is, the people
in power continue to use them so they can remain in their position. They implement
band-aid solutions such as feeding programs and contractual work offers for them but
those don't solve the root cause of their problem. Once they meet the end of the said
programs, they go back to being poor and hungry. Hence why we first need to have a
proper government for this to be solved; implementing a law that can genuinely help
them and solve the main cause of their problem can help them get out of their situation.
Because no matter what suggestions I have for them to eat nutritious foods despite the
rising inflation, if they cannot afford to buy food, then it won't make any difference at all.

References:
‌Oner, C. (2023). Inflation: Prices on the Rise. International Monetary Fund.
https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/Series/Back-to-Basics/Inflation
Philippine Income Classes | Where do you belong? (2020, April 16). Government PH.
https://governmentph.com/income-classes/
Villanueva, R. (2022, December 2). “Middle class, low-income households worst hit by
inflation.” Philstar.com. https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2022/12/02/2227881/middle-
class-low-income-households-worst-hit-inflation
‌ hat Is Hyperinflation? Causes, Effects, Examples, and How to Prepare. (n.d.).
W
Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/h/hyperinflation.asp#:~:text=It%20is
%20different%20than%20a