Children and adults are victims of the junk food industry

By Fr. Shay Cullen

This can be good news to many readers who believe in and act on the phrase “the truth will set us free.” Free from what? From not knowing the danger certain things pose to our lives and that of our children. We all want our children to lead a full life and be the brightest, strongest and healthiest achievers. But the current generation of Filipino children is increasingly under the negative influence of the junk food and drink industries.

Our children are being persuaded to eat junk food that is making them unhealthy and overweight, if not obese. As a result, they may develop serious diseases or mental problems later in life, and not achieve as much as they could.

Food and beverage corporations have been using advertising, both in traditional and social media, to push their products that have little or no nutritional value and pose dangers to children and their parents. In their ads, healthy-looking children can be seen playing or having fun while consuming food loaded with carbohydrates, sugar and salt. In a 2021 study on digital food marketing in the Philippines, 20 of the leading junk food items were found unsafe for children. Such misleading advertising is banned by the World Health Organization (WHO).

One in 10 children ages 5 to 10 is now overweight, even borderline obese. Those between 10 and 19 years old are also becoming obese. The WHO defines obesity as an “abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health.” Not only do obese children lose out on leading a healthy life, but they will also become susceptible to noncommunicable diseases — diabetes, cancer and heart failure, among others — as adults.

So many young people are addicted to social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok that absorb their attention and make them inactive to the point they don’t get enough exercise. Instead of playing sports and engaging in outdoor activities, they remain seated and munch on snacks, engrossed with their mobile phones and surfing the internet. This can lure them into unhealthy relationships, causing physical and mental health problems. The impact of this will be seen in eight years, when 30 percent of young Filipinos will be overweight or obese. They suffer the risk of developing diseases and bringing hardship to their families over growing health costs, and may even drop out of school and live as unproductive and jobless dependents.

This problem is so grave worldwide that there is even a World Obesity Day to bring attention to the need to adopt a healthy lifestyle for oneself and his or her family, based on a Mediterranean diet of fruits, nuts and legumes; vegetables; and whole wheat breads, oats, brown rice and fish.

Good food experts advise us to quit and avoid meat, as well as anything with saturated and trans fats and snacks heavy on salt, sugar, preservatives and chemical additives used for taste. Examples of these are all kinds of processed meats, like hotdogs and salami, and also white bread and alcohol.

Being overweight puts a serious strain on one’s heart. The organ cannot handle too much body weight, putting the person at real risk of heart failure. This can be due to the arteries narrowing due to the buildup of bad cholesterol blocking the blood flow in them.

In 2024, 19.8 percent of all deaths were due to heart failure. As many as 75,500 Filipinos died from heart disease between January and September 2024. One can suddenly suffer a stroke and become paralyzed, especially if he or she is overweight due to an unhealthy diet and lack of regular exercise. When we do not exercise, our organs deteriorate and can fail, too.

The high level of sugar in our bodies can lead to diabetes. Some cancers can be due to a bad diet of processed meats and food items containing chemical additives. These unhealthy products are strongly promoted through advertising as if they were the best, when in fact they are the worst. It seems we have lost our ability to know, understand and choose the right and healthy way to live.

The latest survey of the Department of Science and Technology’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute shows that almost 27 million Filipinos are overweight or obese. This condition among adults nearly doubled from 20.2 percent in 1998 to 36.6 percent in 2019; among adolescents, it more than doubled from 4.9 percent in 2003 to 11.6 percent in 2018.

Thanks to research, we now know that before reaching age 30 to 70, about 24.5 percent of Filipinos are most likely to die from either cancer, diabetes or heart failure, and many from respiratory illnesses (because of air pollution and smoking). This percentage is among the highest in Asia.

Did you know that as many as 43,000 Filipinos died of cancer between January and September 2024? As many as 115,000 Filipinos die each year because of substance abuse, smoking, and alcohol and drug abuse.

We are intelligent and educated people. Reading this and knowing the truth is not enough to save us from harm and sickness. We have to exercise our freedom to choose — if it is still free — to change and improve our lives and the food we consume, and exercise regularly for the sake of the people we love, including ourselves. Our personal happiness and freedom depend on that. Sickness deprives us of our freedom in a way because when we are sick, we are almost totally dependent on others. Becoming and staying healthy and fit, with the right choice of food and exercise, will give us personal happiness and the opportunity to live a long, meaningful life of service to others.