Sunday, July 29, 2007 Kids underfed, adults overweight
CONSUMPTION of fruits and vegetables fell while meat and poultry intake increased during a period of two and a half decades in the country.
This was in the report of Dr. Corazon Barba titled “Dual Malnutrition: the Philippine Case,” which covered the dietary changes among Filipinos between 1978 and 2003.
Barba covered dietary changes among Filipinos between the period of 1978 and 2003.
While consumption of fruits was high at 104 grams per household in 1978, it fell to 54 grams in 2003. There was a fluctuating decrease in between: 102 grams in 1982, 107 grams in 1987 and 77 grams in 1994.
The consumption of green leafy vegetables remained low in 25 years with only 34 grams per household consumed in 1978. It fell to 31 grams per household in 2003.
On other vegetables, the figure was 111 grams per household in the late 1970s before going down to 80 by early 2000.
Vegetables
National Nutrition Council 7 coordinator Parolita Mission, during the open forum of the Philippine Population Association national conference on Life Course Perspective on Population, Nutrition and Health yesterday, said parents should be role models on what their children should eat.
The reason youths are not keen on eating fruits and vegetables, said Mission, is they were not trained to do so when they were younger.
On the area of malnutrition, Barba showed the ironic twists on underweight and overweight incidence.
Barba reported the nutritional status of children that showed a decrease on the stunting/underweight incidence in the Philippines from 1989 to 2003. The same status showed an increase in “overweight-to-height” incidence among children up to 10 years old.
There is also what is called a “double burden of malnutrition,” where children are evidently undernourished while adults are overweight and both are under one roof.
“Persistent undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies among children and vulnerable groups,” was what Barba noticed.
Iodization
He particularly noted vitamin A and iodine deficiency among young ones.
As for adults, Barba blamed it on a sedentary lifestyle.
Barba reported 20.9 percent of coexistence of underweight child and overweight adult in the same household.
What caught the eye of Rep. Nerissa Soon-Ruiz (Cebu, 6th district) was the vitamin A deficiency among children and iodine deficiency, despite the 1996 enactment of the Asin Law, or the Act Promoting Salt Iodization Nationwide.
Ruiz authored the law to help prevent iodine deficiency disorders among Filipinos.
Vitamin A deficiency is rampant among children eight months to six years old and lactating mothers.
Children’s vitamin A deficiency trend rose from 35.3 percent in 1993 to 38 in 1998, and 40.1 in 2003. Among lactating mothers, the trend was 16.4 percent in 1993, 16.5 in 1998 and 20.1 in 2003.
The lowest income quintile also shows the highest prevalence of iodine deficiency with 23.5 percent.
Taking these into consideration, Ruiz asked Barba to draft a bill to solve the problems of micronutrient deficiencies.
Ruiz assured the conference audience—composed of representatives from government agencies, nongovernment organizations and the academe—that she will do her part in legislating health laws.
“There is a need to educate the population on vitamin A and iodine,” Ruiz told Sun.Star Cebu. (JGA)
