Nutrition is important in the entire life cycle .

Failure to provide good nutrition during pregnancy and in the first years of life, will have serious consequences in the entire lifespan of the individual. Poor nutrition of the fetus during pregnancy can lead to low birth weight babies which can lead to impaired mental development and even death. Good nutrition is important in the first two years of life as this is the period with the most intense physical and mental development. A malnourished child less than two years old can still catch up on his growth but beyond that is no longer possible. We all know the important role of nutrition in the total development of the child. Nutrition is important for the physical, mental, social and emotional development of the child. The saying you are what you eat is especially true for children. malnutrition is defined as the condition resulting from lack of or excess of one or more essential nutrients. Malnutrition occurs when physical function is impaired to the point where the person can no longer maintain an adequate level of performance at such things as physical work, resisting or recovering from illness, maintaining an adequate level of growth. Poor nutrition in the early years and during childhood can affect both the physical and mental development of the individual and in later years even work capacity and performance. Recent evidence tells us that poor nutrition in early life can lead to increased risk to non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Good nutrition is often not achieved among children. Nutrition is multi-faceted and multi-dimensional that there are many factors that may affect the nutrition of children. Aside from the lack of food, children are very prone to infections which can lead to poor health. Poor health on the other hand also reduces a childs appetite and ability to absorb nutrients from food. But it is not that simple. There are underlying factors that cause undernutrition. Care or pag-aalaga makes the difference. There are households that are poor and yet their children are not malnourished. It is important that care is given to children. This means giving the extra attention and love when giving food, when a child is sick and providing a happy environment for the child. Overweight and obesity results from excess intake of food over an extended period of time. Overweight and obesity can lead to serious heart problems and diabetes at a young age which could have serious health, economic and social implications in adulthood. Results to serious heart problems, & diabetes at young age Health, economic & social implications in adulthood Results to low self-esteem

Over the years, the number of overweight children continue to rise. Though prevalence is relatively low compared to undernutrition, vigilance should be exercised in preventing an increase in overnutrition

since the condition increases the risk to diet-related diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus and cancers in the later years of life.

The report says that a key step in reducing obesity in children is to establish a national obesity institute or nutrition council to improve collaboration among the different stakeholder groups to reduce the problem effectively. It also calls on the government to mount a sustained and consistent public education campaign to improve parents' and children's understanding of the benefits of healthy living.

The report says that existing primary care health professionals may not be well placed to meet the needs of obese children. It recommends that obesity management should be included in health service planning, with improved provision of staff time and motivational skills. Funding should be allocated to establish and sustain training programmes for professionals involved in the care of obese children, including specialist school nurses, health visitors, and GPs. This funding should be complemented by resources to allow children from any region in the United Kingdom to gain access to specialist regional obesity services. Clearer guidance and advice should be developed on the most effective ways of losing weight and maintaining weight loss, the report advises. It also calls for UK-wide surveillance of factors that lead to childhood obesity, developed by the public health observatories. The report also recommends measures for schools, including provision of food that conforms to nutritional guidelines and using the curriculum to reinforce messages about healthy eating. It says that nutrient and compositional standards for school meals should be mandatory. Maximum or minimum levels for fat, sugar, salt, vitamins, and minerals should be set. To ensure compliance, the profile of health in regular inspections of schools by the Office for Standards in Education should be raised. It further recommends greater government funding of sport and recreation facilities in schools and communities and a ban on the advertising of unhealthy foodstuffs, including inappropriate sponsorship programmes, targeted at school children. The report says that the Food Standards Agency should develop new standards in nutritional content, food labelling, and food marketing and promotion for adoption by the food industry.

Increasingly schools are playing a central role in childrens health. Over 31 million children receive meals through the school lunch program and many children receive most, if not all, of their meals at school. With over seventeen million children living in food insecure households and one out of every three

children in America now considered overweight or obese, schools often are on the front lines of our national challenge to combat childhood obesity and improve childrens overall health. This legislation includes significant improvements that will help provide children with healthier and more nutritious food options, educate children about making healthy food choices, and teach children healthy habits that can last a lifetime

Gives USDA the authority to set nutritional standards for all foods regularly sold in schools during the school day, including vending machines, the a la carte lunch lines, and school stores.

Sets basic standards for school wellness policies including goals for nutrition promotion and education and physical activity, while still permitting local flexibility to tailor the policies to their particular needs. Promotes nutrition and wellness in child care settings through the federally-subsidized Child and Adult Care Food Program.

Requires school districts to be audited every three years to improve compliance with nutritional standards. Requires schools to make information more readily available to parents about the nutritional quality of meals. Includes provisions to ensure the safety of school foods like improving recall procedures and extending hazard analysis and food safety requirements for school meals throughout the campus. Provides training and technical assistance for school food service providers. In the United States, 16.3 percent of children and adolescents between the ages of two and 19 are obese. The prevalence of obesity is so high that it may reduce the life expectancy of todays generation of children and diminish the overall quality of their lives. While parents and other adult caregivers play a fundamental role in teaching children about healthy behaviors, those positive efforts can be undermined by local environments that are poorly suited to supporting healthy behaviorsand may

even promote unhealthy behaviors. Local governments can play a crucial role in creating environments that make it easier for children to eat healthy diets and move more.

The Institute of Medicines Committee on Childhood Obesity Prevention Actions for Local Governments was convened to identify promising actions that local governments can take to curb obesity among children. The committee sought action steps that are within the jurisdiction of local governments; likely to directly affect children; based on the experience of local governments or sources that work with local governments; take place outside of the school day; and have the potential to promote healthy eating and adequate physical activity. The 2009 report Local Government Actions to Prevent Childhood Obesity presents the committees menu of recommended action steps for local government officials to consider in their efforts to prevent childhood obesity in their community.

The local governments role in the development of a healthy and well-nourished child could be in terms of issuing relevant ordinances to promote eating right, e.g. ensuring safety of street foods; healthy lifestyles; e.g. designating jogging or walking or bicycle lanes; proper hygiene. Local governments could also work with the school system in implementing nutrition and related projects for school-age children, e.g. breakfast feeding programs, school lunch programs, nutrition education for parents; wide scale promotion of fortified foods to decrease prevalence of micronutrient deficiencies and other locally-produced nutritious foods, etc. "What we have seen in developing countries is that the offer of food is moving towards highly refined,industrial foods which often have very high content of sugar and fat," says Francesco Branca, WHO director of nutrition for health and development. The proportion of young children who are overweight or obese has increased about 60% in the past 20 years, according to the WHO. They estimate that of the 43 million children worldwide who are overweight or obese, 81% of them live in developing countries. Furthermore, this number is expected to reach 60 million within the next decade.

C is for Consequence Type 2 diabetes, also called adult-onset diabetes, was unheard of in children just a few decades ago, but recently, children as young as 2 are being diagnosed with this unfortunate, albeit preventable, disease. Additionally, according to a 2010 study authored by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, obese children are now showing signs of heart disease once only seen in middle-aged adults. Sadly, these

are only two of many examples illustrating just how bad childhood obesity has become. Not only are overweight children more likely to be overweight adults, theyre also more likely to be sick adults. A March 2011 report by the WHO states that childhood obesity is associated with a higher chance of premature death and disability in adulthood. They are more likely to have metabolic disorders such as diabetes and dyslipidemia (abnormal cholesterol), cardiovascular problems such as high blood pressure and clogged arteries, and even certain cancers. Lack of physical activity leads to decreased function of their musculoskeletal system (critical at their growing stages), cardiovascular system, and neurological system, as their brain is still developing and being fine-tuned during these formative years. Its important, therefore, to recognize that obesity isnt just a fat problem, but one that affects all systems of your childs body: breathing difficulties are common, which may further discourage them to exercise. They also have increased risk of fractures, due to poor nutrition (primarily Vitamin D deficiency) causing improper development of strong bones. Last but not least, we cant overlook the psychological impact of being overweight. Frequent teasing by other children about being fat isnt always easy to handle, so if you feel this may be an issue, especially among girls, its important to speak to them right away, before they learn the words anorexia and bulimia.

emerging problem of overnutrition, overweight and obesity among children and adolescents, particularly in the middle and upper socioeconomic groups
National data revealed that 1 percent of young children (1-10 years old) and 3 percent of adolescents (11-17 years old) were classified as overweight (5th NNS, FNRI-DOST). Among private school children specifically, there was an even higher prevalence of obesity that ranged from 25 to 50 percent. The major reasons stated for the development of obesity in both studies were sedentary lifestyle and intake of high calorie, high fat food

The latest official poverty data indicate that a Filipino needed Php974 in 2009 to meet his/her monthly food needs and Php1,403 to stay out of poverty. Both food and poverty thresholds increased by 26% from 2006 to 2009, compared to only 22% between 2003 and 2006. Consequently, a Filipino family of five needed Php4,869 monthly income to meet the basic food needs and Php 7,017 to stay out of poverty. Subsistence incidence or proportion of food poor families improved from 8.7 percent in 2006 to 7.9 percent in 2009. This means that one family per 100 was lifted out of food poverty between 2006 and 2009.

In terms of poverty incidence among families, there was a slight reduction from 21.1% in 2006 to 20.9% in 2009 or 2 families per 1,000 were lifted out of poverty between 2006 and 2009. Moreover, subsistence incidence among population improved from 11.7% in 2006 to 10.8% in 2009. This means that one per 100 Filipino was lifted out of food poverty between 2006 and 2009. While there was a decrease in the poverty incidence among families from 2006 to 2009, in terms of poverty incidence among population, there was a very slight increase from 26.4% in 2006 to 26.5 in 2009. In terms of the magnitude of the poor families, there was an increase of about 185,000 from 3.67 million in 2006 to 3.86 million in 2009. On the other hand, the magnitude of poor population increased by almost 970,000 Filipinos from 22.2 million in 2006 to 23.1 in 2009.

Middle class families eat more fast food than less-healthy poor ones, according to a new study from the University of California, Davis. The findings suggest restaurant chains like McDonalds and Burger King might not be the biggest culprits in Americas fight against expanding waistelines because the poorest, and least healthy, families cant afford to eat out as often. Researcher J. Paul Leigh studied a survey of the eating habits of 5,000 Americans in the mid-1990s and found that fast food consumption increased with income level.(People with low incomes) are not spending as much on fast food as lower-middle income or middle income. Just to say, Fast food is the sole problem, thats not where the sole problem is, Mr Leigh told the Sacramento Bee. When incomes reach about $60,000 a year, fast food consumption declined, as families chose sit-down restaurants over the drive-through lane. Overall obesity rates in the United States exceed 1-in-3. For poor and lesseducated women, that number rises to more than 40 percent. Mail Online

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ow would you describe the "MIDDLE CLASS FAMILY" of the Philippines?

Obviously the country is divided into two classes...Filthy rich and very poor. However, there are probably the few who don't fall into either one of the two extremes. I'm assuming that these are the people who probably don't have the big businesses and probably work in a call center or as a bank teller. Obviously not the highest paying jobs but not exactly the lowest either.

So how would you describe the lifestyle or living standards of the "Middle or Upper-Middle" class of the Philippines?

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In market research parlance, AB is upper class, C is middle class, and DE is the lower class. Within DE, D is poor, E is very poor. In fact even among the Cs, there is a sub-segment : upper C and lower C. In the strictest sense, and by sheer number, the real middle class is "lower C" which I will proceed to describe. First off, a typical family in the Philippines has 6 members, including the parents. A "lower C" household lives in a low-rent apartment with basic like a toilet or two, plus running water and electricity. They may or may not have a maid (yes, even a lower C can afford a maid, especially if the housewife and the household head and one or two kids go to work). The household furnishings are simple ; a sala set, curtains on the windows, dining set and maybe a small garden set in a patch in front of the house. A lower C household may even have a car, usually second hand. They will have a refrigerator, gas stove/range/ landline phone, TV, radio/stereo/component. maybe even a videoke. The house/apartment is made of wood or concrete material, usually needing a new coat of paint. They will be living in a densely-populated neighborhood, if they live within the city centers. This is how market research practitioners describe a middle class household in the Philippines.

3 years ago

So, are you a rich? 07/05/2010 MANILA, Philippines - This year, to be counted in the country's elite segment, a family must earn at least P199,927 a month - or about P2.39 million annually. This is a leap from the minimum monthly income requirement of P166,673 (or about P2 million every year) back in 2006. Romulo Virola, secretary general of the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB), said the latest figure was drawn from special computations using the results of the 2000, 2003 and 2006 Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES) and Consumer Price Indexes.

FIES is a survey conducted by the National Statistics Office once every 3 years. "Since the results of the 2009 FIES have not been released, this study will use the results of the 2000, 2003 and 2006 FIES," Virola said in his latest column at the NSCB website.

In 2006, Virola noted that only 19,738 families - or 0.1% of the estimated 17.4 million families in the country - belonged to the Philippines' elite segment. A number of rich families in the country were lost to the lower-income groups through the years, just like the middle-class families. (Read story in the following post) "It would have not been so bad if the decrease in the share of the high-income class families actually translated to an expansion of the middle class. However, as pointed out...only the share of the low-income class families consistently expanded between 2000 and 2006," Virola said. High spenders Based on the latest data, elite families don't only earn more - they also spend more. According to the 2006 FIES, a high-income family spends an average of P21,184 a month. This is 2.4 times the amount spent by middle-income (P8,702) families, and 5.7 times more than what low-income (P3,687) families spent on food per month during the same year. For transportation and communication, families from the elite segment spent about P12,694 per month in 2006. The amount is a far cry from what low- and middleincome families spent on a monthly basis in the same year at P305 and P2,212, respectively. Virola noted that most low- and middle-income families use public transport so they get to save on gas and car maintenance expenses. "Malaki siguro ang matitipid nila kung matututo silang mag-MRT o pedicab (The rich could have saved more money if they know how to ride the MRT or the pedicab)," he said.

High-income families also spent more on non-basic commodities, such as durable furnishing, in 2006. Giving back? Despite this, Virola said it's also worth noting that elite families gave more back to society through the years. He said that they spent an average of P2,800 on gifts and contributions per month in 2006, up from P1,300 in 2003 and P767 in 2000. The amount includes gifts and assistance to private individuals outside the family, contributions to church and religious institutions, and contributions and donations to other institutions. "The grouchy may consider this a pittance, but it must indicate the growing conscientization of the rich," Virola said. - Karen Flores, abs-cbnNEWS.com