8 out of 10 Households in the Country are Food Insecure

Food insecurity (lack of food to eat) or the inability to purchase it due to financial constraints was experienced by 8 out of 10 households in the country in 2001. This was the finding of a survey conducted nationwide in 2001 by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute-Department of Science and Technology (FNRI-DOST), on food insecurity of households for the past 6 months using an adaptation of the Radimer/Cornell measure.

More than 80% of households in the country said that the food they bought for the family just did not last and worse, the households did not have enough money to buy something to eat. Of these households, more than half felt that because food was not enough and there was no money to buy it, their children did not eat enough and the food given to them were nutritionally inadequate.

The study also revealed that 33.5% of children in households who were food insecure were underweight while 38.5% were underheight or short.

All regions in the country had high percentages of households who were food insecure. More than 90% of households in Bicol, Eastern Visayas and Western Visayas experienced food insecurity. The lowest percentage of food insecurity in households was found in Northern Mindanao, which at 72.5% is still considered high.

The rising costs of basic commodities have adversely affected majority of the Filipino population. This should be a cause of concern among the country's development planners and policy makers to provide more income-generating activities, create more job opportunities and make food prices affordable as well.

This year, the FNRI-DOST will conduct the 6th National Nutrition Survey. The survey will, among others, track changes in the household food security situation of the country which may have been affected by said economic developments.

For more information on nutrition survey data, you may write or call: The Director, Food and Nutrition Research Institute-Department of Science and Technology, Gen. Santos Avenue, Bicutan, Taguig, Metro Manila, Tel/Fax: 8372934, 8373164; E-mail: cvcb@fnri.dost.gov.ph; FNRI-DOST website: http//www.fnri@dost.gov.ph.

S&T Media Service
FNRI-DOST Media Release for 2003
MASConstantino