‘Food poor’ criteria must consider cost of healthy diet

The “food poor” criteria set by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) must consider the cost of healthy diet following Department of Science and Technology-Food and Nutrition Research Institute (DoST-FNRI)’s “Pinggang Pinoy.”

“Pinggang Pinoy’s” model each meal must contain fruits and vegetables, meat or fish, and whole grains like rice.

In a statement on Monday, Healthy Philippines Alliance Convenor Dr. Jaime Galvez Tan urged NEDA to update their food basket based on current food prices that will meet a balanced and nutritious diet following “Pinggang Pinoy.”

“This will help the government formulate a more realistic standard to classify Filipinos as no longer ‘food poor’ and will better inform government agencies of gaps that must be addressed like food costs and availability, and health literacy,” Galvez said.

The physician also emphasized that P64 for three meals a day does not suffice to meet a healthy diet for one person.

“Sadly, poor families tend to purchase cheaper and easy-to-prepare food which can include ultra-processed foods like instant noodles or canned meat that have inadequate nutrients and too much sugar, sodium or fats,” he said.

Galvez also noted that such unhealthy diet increases the risk of undernutrition and other noncommunicable diseases like diabetes, cancer and heart disease.

Citing a research conducted by the Ateneo Policy Center, a low income family of five in the Philippines will need a daily budget of P693 to afford the cheapest raw food for a healthy plate, according to Galvez.