Self-rated hunger at 11-year low

MANILA, Philippines – The number of Filipino families who experienced involuntary hunger dropped by almost a million in the last quarter of 2015, bringing the full-year average to its lowest in 11 years, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) said in its latest poll.

The survey, fielded from Dec. 5 to 8, found 11.7 percent of respondents or about 2.6 million families saying they experienced having had nothing to eat at least once in the past three months.

But the latest hunger rate was lower than the 15.7 percent (equivalent to 3.5 million families) recorded in September last year.

The overall hunger rate is composed of 8.9 percent, or an estimated two million families who experienced “moderate hunger,” and 2.8 percent, or equivalent to 621,000 families who experienced “severe hunger.”

SWS defines people who experienced moderate hunger as those who suffered from involuntary hunger “only once” or “a few times,” while “severe hunger” pertains to those who experienced or felt hunger “often” or “always” in the last three months.

Moderate hunger fell by 5.2 points from September’s 14.1 percent that was equivalent to 3.1 million families, while severe hunger rose by 1.2 points from September’s 1.6 percent or about 361,000 families. –Helen Flores, Aurea Calica (The Philippine Star)