MANILA, May 23 (Xinhua) -- The number of overweight children in the Philippines has tripled since 2003 due to sugary children's foods, according to a study by UNICEF and the Consortium for Improving Complementary Foods in Southeast Asia released on Thursday.
The study finds that over one-third of commercially produced packaged foods for children aged six months to three years in the Philippines contain added sugars and sweeteners.
It also finds widespread use of potentially misleading and deceptive labeling and a lack of strict government regulations regarding product composition and sale.
"This comes as the country has seen its number of overweight children triple since 2003, a figure classified as high according to global standards," the study says.
The study assessed 182 infant cereals, purees, snacks, and ready-to-eat meals marketed to infants and young children in the Philippines. Nearly all dry or instant cereal products are fortified, but fortification levels often do not meet the recommended standards.
According to the study, no product labels include the Filipino language, making it difficult for parents and caregivers to understand and interpret the information on the labels. Unhealthy products are marketed and promoted as suitable for consumption by young children. A quarter of the food products do not include a recommended minimum use age of at least six months, and only 2 percent of the product labels include messaging on the importance of continued breastfeeding.
"Commercially produced complementary foods are a common part of the diets of young children in the Philippines, with 83 percent of mothers from urban areas reporting they provide these foods to their children daily," said the study.
The study calls for improved government regulations for commercially produced complementary foods, including prohibiting added sugars and sweeteners, limiting sugar and sodium content, and prohibiting misleading marketing and labeling.
It stresses the need for stricter government monitoring and enforcement of national regulations on commercially produced complementary foods, support for parents to provide diverse, nutritious food to their youngest children by making healthy food available and affordable.
"Without updated and enforced food regulations to protect children, they will consume more unhealthy foods with high sugar and sweeteners, which can displace needed essential nutrients, harm their dental health, and cause them to prefer unhealthy food later in life, leading to obesity and non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and heart diseases," UNICEF Representative to the Philippines Oyunsaikhan Dendevnorov said.
The study did not provide numbers of overweight children. However, a survey conducted by the country's Department of Science and Technology -- Food and Nutrition Research Institute in 2019 reported that nearly one in 10 children, aged five to 10 years old and 10 to 19 years old, respectively, are considered overweight. ■
