Poor Filipino households and nutritionally vulnerable population groups face food and nutrition insecurity, particularly after natural disasters.

This is according to a policy statement of the Department of Science and Technology-Food and Nutrition Research Institute (DOST-FNRI) on “Climate shocks, calamities exact human collateral damage, food and nutrition security threatened.”

The Philippines receives an overdose of natural calamities, like destructive typhoons, devastating and lingering floods, landslides, and earthquakes (Asian Disaster Reduction Center).

Climate change caused by environmental destruction and unchecked industrial expansion worsen the magnitude of calamities and erratic weather patterns. These elevate climate change as an emerging concern on the nutrition and health agenda of the country.

As a result, food security is jeopardized at both the macro- and household levels, first with a disrupted food system, and eventually, intermittent availability of food on the table.

The study of Acuin (2017) revealed a significant difference in nutritional status between individuals when grouped by age.

According to the study, exposure to calamities of the younger age group, specifically children and teenage pregnant women, did not predict poor nutritional status.

However, the elderly, who were poorly-educated, unemployed, with poor wealth status, and who experienced several bouts of calamities before the study, were more likely to be underweight and iodine deficient.

Additionally, studies conducted by Duante (2015 and 2017) revealed that households with higher educational attainment, higher participation in household food production programs, and smaller family sizes were less likely to suffer from hunger.

On the other hand, households engaged in agriculture showed no effect of climate shocks measured by temperature and precipitation on household food consumption.

However, with a simulated decrease in rainfall of 20 percent (%) to 10 percent (%), household food consumption decreased.

Moreover, increased rainfall tended to increase the incidence of illness among children with nutritional deficiencies, according to a study by Talavera (2018).

Related to this, the DOST-FNRI believes that there is something that can be done in preventing hunger and malnutrition, and other problems caused by climate change.

The Institute recommends that climate change initiatives be localized with considerations for the vulnerability of specific population groups, such as the elderly and those living in ecological zones with increased precipitation.

National climate change initiatives should be translated into local actionable points, and that these be monitored and evaluated, the DOST-FNRI also recommended.

Only 19.6 percent (%) or about 1 in 10 of Pinoy consumers read food product labels, while only 16.7% of them only check the expiration date and nutrition facts before buying.

This is according to an article “Socio-demographic Determinants of Filipino Consumers Reading Food Product Labels and Nutrition Facts”, which is based on the results of the 2018-2019 National Nutrition Survey (NNS) of the Department of Science and Technology- Food and Nutrition Research Institute (DOST-FNRI) about the consumers’ use of nutrition information on processed food products.

The same survey also reported that reading labels is associated with the socio-economic status of the consumer.

The higher the consumer's economic and educational level, the more frequently and in- depth is the manner of reading product labels, the survey noted.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) Guidelines on Nutrition Labeling, the two types of nutrition labeling are the nutrient declaration and the supplementary nutrition information.

The nutrient declaration lists the nutrient contents of the food, while the supplementary nutrition information increases the consumer's understanding of the nutritional value of food and assists in interpreting the nutrient declaration.

Here in the country, Administrative Order (A.O.) 88-B series of 1984, provides the rules and regulations governing the labeling of pre-packaged food products distributed nationwide. This is to inform Filipino consumers about the content, nutritional properties, and necessary instructions of the food they are buying.

Moreso, as mentioned by Velasco (2018) in the Philippine Star article, the Department of Health-Food and Drug Administration (DOH-FDA) is mandated to regulate food products and "aligns its domestic policies on food-nutrition labeling with the guidelines provided by the Codex Alimentarius."

The Codex Alimentarius is a set of internationally-recognized standards, codes of practices, and guidelines on food products, food production, and food safety, the article states.

The DOST-FNRI recommends that the DOH-FDA redesign the nutrition information panel on food products to make it easier for consumers to make informed food choices that contribute to lifelong healthy eating habits.

The DOH-FDA must address the serving size inconsistencies in nutrition labeling, reduce the amount of complicated information on the nutrition panel, and adopt or improve front-of-pack (FOP) labeling systems, the DOST-FNRI recommendation added.

Further, the Institute recommends that other research institutes conduct studies on nutrition labelling and focus on developing better numeric and non-numeric strategies to communicate nutrition information to the public.