A Filipino youth’s perspective on food, health, sustainability
The steady beep of hospital monitors replaced the familiar rhythm of my father's footsteps.
At 47, he lay pale, awaiting surgery for four heart blockages.
I was only 12, grappling with a reality I never imagined: my dad, the biker who'd ride six hours from Makati to Rizal, was now tethered to machines. Just yesterday, we were laughing about late-night talk shows.
Today, I'm learning words like "angioplasty" and "coronary heart disease".
The cold hospital glow cast a harsh spotlight on how quickly life changes. This wasn't just my story. It was a wake-up call to the pain echoing across countless Filipino families, exemplifying a silent crisis unfolding across the nation.
Mortality rates from non-communicable diseases such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes are soaring, claiming 41 million lives globally each year, with a disproportionate impact on low- and middle-income countries (Angeles-Agdeppa and Custodio). Even more alarmingly, 95 Filipino children succumb to malnutrition every day ("Child Survival"). These disparate tragedies share a common culprit: unhealthy diets.
The Filipino diet has failed on two critical fronts: individual well-being and environmental sustainability. A study by Angeles-Agdeppa and Custodio reveals that working adults in the Philippines consume barely enough calories for rest, let alone regular daily activity.
Our Filipino diet lacks the diversity recommended by the EAT-Lancet Commission, a group of 37 world-leading scientists that outlined scientifically backed targets for healthy and sustainable diets (Willett). The top protein sources in the Filipino diet are rice, pork, fish and eggs; while the EAT-Lancet Commission advocates for a more diverse diet, including nuts, legumes, poultry and fish. Rice alone constitutes 36% of an average Filipino's energy intake, and Filipinos consume more than twice the recommended amount of saturated fats daily. This imbalance leads to widespread nutrient deficiencies, with high animal protein consumption associated with a 23% higher risk of early death among males (Angeles-Agdeppa and Custodio).
The environmental consequences of our diet are equally dire. Traditional rice cultivation methods contribute significantly to methane release, accounting for approximately 10% of global methane emissions. The overreliance on rice monocultures increases vulnerability to pests, diseases, and climate change, threatening food security. Alarmingly, 57.3% of Filipino agricultural households are moderately to severely food insecure (FNRI-DOST, 2018-2019).
The root of this problem lies in the Philippine agricultural landscape: 79% of arable land is used for just three crops — rice, coconut, and corn. Our poor diets, caused partly by nutritional inadequacies and limited crop diversity, are exacerbated by the aggressive marketing of processed foods. UNICEF reports that social media in the Philippines is saturated with marketing for unhealthy foods and beverages, often using celebrity endorsements to target children and families (Tatlow-Golden et al.).
While legislative efforts like the High-Value Development Act of 1995 and House Bill No. 62 attempt to address these issues, diet-related diseases continue to plague the Philippines. The crux of the problem lies in the lack of coordinated effort between key stakeholders. Without enough government or private sector support, small farmers, lacking resources and knowledge, will struggle to diversify crops effectively.
Addressing this crisis demands a fundamental shift toward more diverse, nutritionally balanced and environmentally sustainable dietary practices. However, this transformation cannot occur without effective, decisive collaboration between the private sector, government and farmers.
The private sector must prioritize the production and marketing of healthier foods. The government needs to implement and enforce stricter regulations on food marketing while providing support and incentives for crop diversification. Farmers require financial resources, equipment, and knowledge to transition to more diverse and sustainable farming practices. And most of all, we must change our attitude towards our food. Your diet is not just personal to you. It can affect the environment around us.
The current state of the Filipino diet poses a dual threat to public health and environmental sustainability. We can only hope to reverse this trend through collective efforts from all sectors of society.
The health of our loved ones, the nation and the planet relies on our ability to work together toward a more sustainable and nutritious food system.
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Author's note
Thank you to the following contributors whose insight and support helped shape this article:
Dr. Renzo Guinto*, the Associate Professor of Global and Planetary Health in the SingHealth Duke-NUS Global Health Institute (SDGHI), who shared his expertise in planetary health; Dr. Marina Sundiang*, a Postdoctoral Associate in Cornell University's Food Systems & Global Change (FSGC) research group, who provided valuable research on Planetary Health Diets; and Dr. Kim Leonard Dela Luna, an Associate Professor at the University of the Philippines who contributed critical insight into nutrition.
Your guidance has been invaluable.
* Dr. Renzo Guinto, Dr. Marina Sundiang, and Hailey Que Yap are part of the Planetary Health Philippines' (PH²) Food Systems Thematic Working Group, which examines issues, challenges, and opportunities at the nexus of food, human health, and the environment. PH² is a community of Filipino planetary health advocates, scholars, and practitioners who exchange ideas, forge collaborations, and advance the new discipline of planetary health in the Philippines.
