Cases of diabetes among children are on the rise, a health expert bared on Friday, 9 November.

In a media roundtable on food warning labels presented by Health Justice of the Philippines, Health Philippines Alliance, and ImagineLaw, Diabetes Philippines trustee Jennina Duatin shared that they are now encountering children as young as 10 years old who already have type 2 diabetes.

"Pag type 2 kadalasan nakukuha yan ng mga more than 30 years old or 40 years old lumalabas (Type 2 diabetes is usually acquired by people 30 to 40 years old and above)," said Duatin, who is also a nutritionist.

"Pero as of this moment, mayroon kaming mga pasyente na as early as 10 years old mayroon nang type 2 diabetes because of the obesity (But as of this moment, we have patients who, as early as 10 years old, already have type 2 diabetes because of the obesity)," she added.

Children with type 2 diabetes are encouraged to consume healthy food and lose weight to prevent further complications, according to Duatin.

Meanwhile, former Health secretary Dr. Jaime Galvez Tan also raised concerns about the rising hypertension cases among teens.

"I'd just like to alert everyone, dahil din po sa kinakain natin (because of what we eat), even children below 18 are having hypertension which we didn't see 30 years ago," Tan stressed.

"They are getting younger and younger, unlike before... diabetes and hypertension or cancer in old people, now they are getting younger and younger. So what does it mean? Something's happening in our food environment," he pointed out.

Tan underscored the importance of the adoption of food warning labels, calling them a critical step to protect children from the rampant rise of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in the Philippines.

Currently, about 29.5 million Filipinos are living with overweight or obesity.

Moreover, according to the 2021 Expanded National Nutrition Survey, 40.2 percent or four in 10 adults, 13 percent of adolescents aged 10 to 19, and 14 percent of children aged five to 10 are overweight or obese.

UNICEF has warned that obesity among adolescents may rise to 30 percent by 2030 if left unaddressed.

The World Health Organization has also warned that children who are overweight or obese are likely to remain obese into adulthood, which increases their risk of developing NCDs.

Some countries in Latin Americas, such as Chile and Mexico, have implemented front-of-package food warning labels to combat this issue.

In the Philippines, Senate Bill No. 2700, or the Healthy Food Marketing Environment Act, was filed in the upper chamber earlier this year.

However, the bill has been pending in the Health and Demography Committee since then.

Its counterpart version in the House of Representatives has yet to be scheduled for a hearing in the Trade and Industry Committee.