THE country is seeing its highest incidence of obesity and overweight among children, a trend health and sports professionals say is linked to a sharp decline in physical play and basic movement skills.
University of the Philippines and Commission on Higher Education (Ched) technical panel for sports and exercise science member Pio Solon said children are spending more time in digital play and less time outdoors, resulting in what experts describe as alarming gaps in physical development.
Solon, in an interview with SunStar Cebu’s Beyond the Headlines, said many enter adolescence without knowing how to run, skip, or jump — skills once naturally learned in early childhood.
“We’ve lost the ability of children to play physically. They now play digitally,” Solon.
“Children don’t know how to run, they don’t know how to skip, they don’t know how to jump. They get to high school without knowing these physical skills,” he added.
The World Health Organization (WHO), in an article published in March 2025, said one in 10 Filipino children are now classified as overweight and obese, a level considered high by global standards.
In 2023 national nutrition survey of the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), overweight and obesity are increasing at an alarming rate among five-10-year-olds with 12.9 percent, and 10-19-year-olds with 12.5 percent.
In the WHO article, it also emphasized the “unhealthy food” fed to children leading to their obesity and overweight.
WHO said children are “growing up in environments where unhealthy food is more accessible than nutritious options.”
“Ultra-processed food products like sweetened cereals, packaged snacks and flavored drinks flood the market while misleading marketing and the lack of better food choices shape eating habits early,” said WHO.
WHO cited a study by Unicef, which found that more than a third of packaged food for infants and young children contains added sugars or sweeteners.
According to the study, snacks like biscuits, 87 percent of them contain added sugars, yet no regulations exist to limit sugar content in food for young children.
In another study analysing over 1,000 social media ads on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube promoting 20 popular food products and brands for children and families, Unicef found that 99 percent of these ads promoted unhealthy products, which violates WHO’s guidance on marketing food and non-alcoholic beverages to children and policies to protect them from harmful impact advertising.
Beyond public health
Solon said the consequences extend beyond public health.
He said a population growing up without foundational motor skills may face challenges in crisis situations that require physical readiness.
“People ask why physical education and sports are important. It’s a matter of national defense,” he said. “If citizens below 18 don’t know how to run, jump, or carry, and at some point there’s a disaster or an effort to defend our territory, how do we manage?”
He urged parents, schools and communities to prioritize outdoor play and sports participation.
“Children need to play as much as possible, get into sports, do something fun,” he said. “Let them be children, let them play.”
Elderly
Solon also addressed persistent misconceptions about physical activity among older adults.
He said many assumed the elderly are incapable of regular exercise, despite WHO guidelines that recommend at least 150 minutes of physical activity weekly for people over 60.
While long-term data on exercise and aging remain limited, Solon said anecdotal cases illustrate how late-life fitness improvements are possible.
He cited as an example a sedentary Italian man who began cycling at 65 and, with consistent activity over 25 years, reached age 90 with the aerobic fitness of a 45-year-old.
“It’s never too late to start,” Solon said. “You can reverse a lot of the aging that happens—whether in strength or cardiovascular fitness.” / JJL