Food is essential in people’s daily lives as it fuels one’s body. But certain types of food, if not paired with physical activity, may also be among the culprits for a person to gain excessive weight.

Based on the 2023 National Nutrition Survey (NNS) of the Department of Science and Technology’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute, 17 out of every 100 Filipino adults are overweight and 40 out of every 100 adults are obese.

Obesity, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), is recognized as a “chronic and relapsing disease linked to diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic illnesses.”

The latest Philippine Statistics Authority report showed the leading causes of deaths in the country from January to April 2025 were:

•  ischaemic heart diseases — 40,532 fatalities
• neoplasms or the abnormal growth of cells — 22,837 deaths
• cerebrovascular diseases or the conditions that affect blood flow to the brain — 20,484 deaths
• pneumonia — 13,838 deaths
• diabetes mellitus — 12,360 deaths

Health rating label bill

In a bid to keep Filipinos healthy, Senator Raffy Tulfo has refiled the proposed Health Rating Label Act or Senate Bill 1668, which seeks the use of a health rating system on the labels of packaged food products.

“This bill seeks to efficiently provide Filipinos with convenient, relevant, and comprehensible necessary information on the nutritional content of the food they choose to consume on a daily basis and promote healthier eating choices,” Tulfo said on the bill’s explanatory note.

Tulfo’s bill described the health rating system as the “front-of-pack labeling system that measures the overall nutritional profile of packaged food products.” This will be in addition to the standard nutritional facts label seen at the back of the packaging.

Under the bill, the rating of food products will be calculated based on the total energies or kilocalories, saturated fat, sodium, sugar content, and fiber.

Food products will be rated from 1 to 5, with the latter corresponding to most nutritious.

Beside or below the health rating would be where the nutrient content is located. It will also indicate whether the food product is high or low in saturated fat, sodium, or fiber.

If approved, all packaged food products, whether locally made or imported, that will be sold or distributed to consumers in the country would need to be compliant to the health rating system. The exceptions are fresh unpacked food, condiments, non-nutritive foods, single-ingredient foods not to be eaten on their own, alcoholic beverages, formulated products for infants and young children, and food for special medical purposes.

Based on the proposal, the system would be implemented in physical retail establishments and digital sales channels, including online stores, electronic marketplaces, mobile applications, and social media platforms.

Under the proposal, the manufacturer or importer of food products would be the ones responsible for the calculation of the health rating, which would be sent to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for approval.

Those who would not comply would receive a written warning from the FDA for first offense based on the bill. For the second offense, they would be fined P50,000 per day of violation. For the third offense, their license to operate, product registration, or authorization to sell or distribute product in the country would be suspended or revoked.

The FDA, based on the proposal, would be the regulating body to oversee the implementation, while the Department of Health would establish an oversight committee “that is responsible for ensuring a consistent approach to the effective implementation of the Health Rating System.”

In the lower chamber, House Speaker Bojie Dy in August 2025 filed House Bill 3552, a similar measure, that seeks the use of half-star to 5 stars under the proposed rating system.

In the 19th Congress, Dy’s son, then-Isabela representative Inno Dy, filed the same measure. Tulfo also filed the bill in the previous Congress. Both bills remained pending at the committee level.

‘Oversimplified’

For registered nutritionist-dietitian Jo Sebastian, the proposed health rating system could be a “great step forward,” when paired with the nutrition facts, as it can be an easier way for people to understand what they are consuming.

“I really liked how the packaging is based on calorie content, saturated fat, sodium, sugar, and fiber, which are some of the important nutrients that we’re looking at, specifically ‘yung (the) saturated fat for heart disease and hypertension, sodium din (also) for hypertension, sugar naman (meanwhile) for diabetics,” Sebastian told Rappler.

The rating system, she said, could be improved by incorporating other nutrients such as protein, calcium, and iron.

While a rating can be helpful, Sebastian raised a concern that the proposed system may foster a mindset in which food is seen as either “good” or “bad,” overlooking the many ways it can fit into a balanced diet.

“It can be a wider nutrition rating kasi (because) for me, I think 1 to 5 doesn’t put the bigger picture of nutrition too much in perspective,” the nutritionist-dietitian said.

“The rating system may be oversimplified to the point na baka (that maybe) rather than helping people understand their food choices, they just have more fear, more demonization of food without considering na iba-iba rin naman talaga ang in-o-offer ng food (that food has different offerings),” she added.

Factors affecting one’s health

Sebastian said some people do not intentionally choose less nutritious or ultra-processed foods over fruits and vegetables. One thing in consideration is their budget.

“‘Yung pinakanangyayari kasi ‘yung (What usually happens is that the) tendency is the food that becomes villainized or seen as bad are actually the food that is more accessible and affordable to a large group of people,” said Sebastian.

“I also want to see the bills that are making food more accessible, that are making fruits and vegetables cheaper,” she said.

Based on the Department of Agriculture’s price monitoring in Metro Manila markets from January 26 to 31, average prices of lowland and highland vegetables range from P59 to P270 per kilo. A kilo of fruit cost an average of P54 to P338 during the same period.

The 2023 NNS showed 31.4% of Filipino households are moderate to severely food insecure while 2.7% are severely food insecure. Food insecurity is a state in which individuals lack access to sufficient safe and nutritious food to meet nutritional requirements.

One’s overall health, Sebastian said, does not depend on food alone, but on bodily movement, air quality, and stress, among others.

“In other countries, you can walk to work or easily get 10,000 steps per day. Dito nakaupo ka lang sa (Here, you’re stuck in) traffic for a long time,” Sebastian said.

About 75% of Filipino adolescents and 46.9% of adults are not doing enough physical activity, the 2023 NNS stated.

In terms of air quality, the Philippines in 2024 had an average of 14.8 micrograms of particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) concentration, according to Swiss air quality technology firm IQAir. The figure is beyond the WHO guideline of 5 micrograms of PM2.5 per cubic meter annually.

Meanwhile, a Social Weather Stations survey conducted in September 2025 revealed that 34% of Filipinos said they feel stressed “frequently” in their day to day. Most Filipinos said the biggest factor of their stress is their financial situation.

Other front-of-pack labels

Globally, different types of front-of-pack labels (FOPL) have been in place.

Australia and New Zealand are using something similar to Dy’s proposed health star rating system, which scores the food from half-star to 5 stars.

Major retailers and brands in the United Kingdom use the traffic light system, in which the colors red, green, and amber determine whether a certain nutrient content is low, medium, or high.

France, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and The Netherlands use the nutri-score system, which categorizes food from A, B, C, D, and E, with corresponding colors ranging from dark green to dark orange.

Warning labels, which indicate if a certain nutrient exceeds the threshold, are used in Chile, Mexico, Israel, Uruguay, and Peru.

According to the World Heart Federation (WHF), the research community has a consensus that “FOPL systems can impact consumers’ choices by increasing their understanding and use of nutrition information.”

WHF does not favor one FOPL system over another and encourages governments to assess what system fits them best. Whatever the system is, the federation believes it should be a comprehensive one.

For WHF, FOPLs should be mandatory as voluntary labeling “may bias consumer perceptions towards products with labels that are potentially less healthful than products with no labels.”

An education program should be in place, the WHF said, to raise public awareness about the FOPL system. The program should also “help consumers understand what is considered a healthy diet” and how the system relates to national dietary guidelines. – Rappler.com