MANILA, Philippines — Did you know that heart disease is still the Philippines’ leading killer, claiming thousands of lives each year?
At the same time, childhood obesity is surging at an alarming rate — one in seven school-aged children is now classified as overweight or obese, according to UNICEF. The question is: why? And what role does the food industry play in this urgent public health crisis?
A trip down any local grocery aisle will tell you everything you need to know. Filipinos are bombarded with attractive packaging, aggressive food marketing, and back-of-pack nutrition labels that are hard to read and often misleading. Many pre-packaged foods and household staples — powdered fruit juices, cheese spreads, instant noodles, and cookies — are loaded with high levels of sugar, sodium, and unhealthy fats, which are the main culprits of diet-related diseases.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), high intake of these unhealthy food significantly increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and some types of cancer.
Yet, families continue to buy these products, unaware of just how harmful they can be. But we cannot pin all the blame on them. This is why some lawmakers and health advocates are pushing for change.
Samar Representative Reynolds Michael Tan, health advocates, doctors, and local government officials are urging the House committees on health and trade to prioritize the proposed Healthy Food Marketing Environment Bill. It aims to mandate front-of-pack warning labels (FOPWL) on pre-packaged food products that are high in fats, sugar, and sodium, regulating child-directed food marketing to make it easier for consumers to spot unhealthy choices at a glance.
This initiative is not about banning food; it’s about informed awareness. Health advocates compare it to the tobacco warning labels, which show the possible grim effects of smoking. This allows people to make an informed choice before buying a product proven to cause harm.
The same principle applies with the proposed bill: if a package of cookies or a cheese spread has a clear warning about its high fat or sodium content, consumers can at least think twice before deciding whether they still want to buy it.
Not as simple as it seems
Discipline isn’t enough to “eat healthy” in the Philippines. Many individuals commute every day, get home late at night, and work overtime — that’s why products that are convenient, budget-friendly, and easily available are usually the first choices. Pre-packaged foods are often cheaper, last longer, and are heavily marketed as family-friendly or kid-approved.
During a press forum on Wednesday, March 5, representatives from the Philippine Heart Association and ImagineLaw said that the way food is advertised is just as problematic as its contents. Brightly colored packaging, cartoon mascots, and celebrity endorsements make unhealthy food irresistible to children. Essential nutritional information is often hidden at the back in tiny, unreadable print.
Lack of education also needs to be addressed. Understanding serving sizes is confusing; many food labels indicate deceptively small serving sizes, making a product appear lower in sugar or fat than it actually is when consumed in real-life portions.
During the forum, doctors noted that powdered fruit juice is very high in sodium and sugar; processed cheese spread is high in sodium and fat; mayonnaise is high in saturated fat; and cookies are high in everything — total fats, sodium, and sugar. And most of us wouldn’t know that!
The role of LGUs
If passed, the bill will not only regulate food labeling but will also control how unhealthy food is marketed, especially to children, Tan said. This involves local government units (LGUs) working alongside the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Trade and Industry to implement the mandate effectively.
What happens if manufactured products fail to comply with the warning label requirements? They said that they could be considered misbranded, leading to the cancelation of their Certificate of Product Registration (CPR), which is a requirement for selling goods in supermarkets and stores.
Some municipalities are already setting a good example — the Taytay LGU in Rizal is already taking action.
Sari-sari stores right outside schools are packed with soft drinks, chips, and ice cream, making it nearly impossible for students to resist! Taytay’s local ordinance restricts the advertising of unhealthy food near schools, so that children won’t be tempted to buy them.
Taytay’s approach doesn’t ban products but regulates advertising techniques, such as banning cartoon mascots and endorsements targeted at children. If implemented nationwide, this could be a game-changer in protecting Filipino children from harmful food marketing.
In Quezon City, Mayor Joy Belmonte introduced in January the city’s health initiative — the Calorie Labeling Ordinance, a first-of-its-kind policy in Southeast Asia that will mandate restaurants in the city to display calorie counts on standardized menu items.
The bigger, long-term picture
Dietary risks associated with high sugar, sodium, and fat intake directly contribute to premature mortality and non-communicable diseases such as heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, ischemic heart disease was responsible for 19% of total deaths in the country in 2023.
The consequences reach far beyond the family unit. The concept of disability-adjusted life years — which measure the years lost due to disease — shows that Filipinos are losing years of healthy life due to diet-related illnesses. With the rise of online food deliveries, processed foods, and high-fat convenience meals, the country is at growing risk of raising children predisposed to obesity, heart disease, and diabetes.
Collective effort
Health advocates also assert that consumers are not the only ones responsible for better food choices, food manufacturers should be held accountable as well. If these warning labels become mandatory, food companies will hopefully face the pressure to reformulate their products to avoid being flagged as unhealthy. Just as the tobacco industry had to adapt to warning labels, the food industry may be encouraged to lower sugar, sodium, and fat content to improve marketability.
It’s about making nutrition information more accessible and easy to understand.
Health experts stress that this is a two-way street; change won’t happen overnight, but the public should already know that moderation and variety are key. A completely restrictive diet is unsustainable, but the goal is to educate the public on what foods to consume occasionally, versus what should be “staples” in their diet.
“The pay-off will be down the line. We will first educate our city health officers about this,” lawmakers said, adding that the media, social media platforms like TikTok, and educational campaigns will play an important role in shifting consumer behavior, while legislation like the Healthy Food Marketing Environment Bill can be the foundation of that change.
“Behavioral change is hard if your food environment is not conducive to that. This bill is one of the first steps in establishing an environment where people are encouraged to make healthier and more informed food choices,” Tan said, standing by the belief that informed choices should become the norm, not the exception. – Rappler.com