A Philippine lawmaker on Monday sounded the alarm over the country’s rising obesity problem, following a recent study that found about 41% of the 72 million Filipino adults — translating to 29.5 million people — are classified as overweight or obese.
“Forty-one percent is very alarming. I was surprised because I never expected it to be that high,” Janette L. Garin, Deputy Speaker and representative of Iloilo’s 1st district, said in reaction to the findings of the Epidemiological Burden and Cost of Obesity in the Philippines (EpiCOb-PH) study, which was also released on the same day during a multi-sectoral forum.
The study was led by Dr. Madeleine de Rosas-Valera and funded by Novo Nordisk Pharmaceutical (Philippines) Inc. It also found that more than four in 10 Filipino adults are already at increased risk of obesity-related health problems.
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