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by PIA - Vegetables abound in the country, and yet Filipinos are eating less and less of the green, leafy foods.

Studies show that in the latter part of 1978, Filipinos consumed 145 gm of vegetables per person every day. In 2008, it was discovered that the Filipinos’ daily vegetable consumption decreased to only 110 mgm per person.

The figures are lower for Central Visayas. According to Negros Oriental Provincial Nutrition Council Action officer Dr. Edgardo Barredo, Region 7 residents only consume 102 gm of vegetables per day.

Health experts in Dumaguete City find this alarming, in view of the increasing number of deaths caused by lifestyle diseases or ailments that could have been avoided by the daily intake of vegetables and fruits.

Barredo, in a forum held Wednesday to mark the province’s celebration of Nutrition Month this July, disclosed that cardiovascular diseases rank as the 6th leading cause of diseases in Negros Oriental for the past five years.

Heart-related ailments are also among the top leading causes of deaths in the province for the same period, followed by cancer, renal disease, and chronic pulmonary diseases.

This is based on data submitted to Barredo’s office by the 25 towns and cities in the province.

Negros Oriental’s vegetable sufficiency level has been growing over the years, with 45 percent sufficiency in 2002 and 75 percent in the past few years, said provincial agriculturist Gregorio Paltinca.

He said the province has been implementing several programs geared towards ensuring vegetable sufficiency here, such as the establishment of the award-winning Barangay Agricultural Development Centers (BADC) and the Gulayan at Palaisdaan Alay sa Kabataan (GPAK).

Both programs are Galing Pook awardees, GPAK in 2005 and BADC in 2004, said Paltinca.

“It’s an irony because we are living in a country with abundant supply of vegetables and yet we are not consuming enough of these,” said Prof. Michelle Naranjo of the Silliman University Nutrition and Dietetics in the same forum.

She added that in Dumaguete City alone, there are 1,000 children recorded to be malnourished. “This is preventable because malnutrition is caused by micronutrient deficiency, which can be found in plants,” said Naranjo.

She noted that many pregnant and lactating mothers in the city are also anemic because they are not eating enough vegetables.

Both Barredo and Naranjo urged Filipinos to eat the required intake of greens to prevent lifestyle-related diseases. 

The recommended fruit and vegetable intake, according to Naranjo, is three servings of vegetables and two servings of fruits everyday.

“That means one half-cup of green, leafy vegetables and 3/4 cup of non-leafy greens such as squash, bitter melon, and sayote,” she explained.

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