Worst Case..

20 to 34 Percent of Filipinos Undernourished
About 20 to 34 percent of 74.2 million Filipinos in the period 1998 to 2000 was undernourished, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in its report entitled "The State of Food Insecurity in the World 2002." The situation in the Philippines was worse that those in Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam where only 5 to 19 percent of the population was undernourished.

Only less than 2.5 percent of population in Malaysia was undernourished while there was no record of similar problem in Singapore and Thailand. Only Cambodia, with 35 percent or more of its population being undernourished, was worse off than the Philippines.

The FAO reported that there are some 840 million undernourished people in the world today while the World Bank said about 1.2 billion people lived on less than US$1 per day. Some 25,000 people reportedly die of hunger and poverty each day. Measured annually, around six million children under the age of five are dying of hunger.

The Philippines as 10th Placer...

Eighty percent of the world's malnourished children below five years old are to be found in just 10 countries, with the Philippines in 10th place, a compilation of reports released recently said.

There are three million malnourished children in the Philippines, said Population Talkpoint, a report compiled by the Philippine Legislators' Committee on Population and Development.

The report said the country with the most number of malnourished children - 72 million - was China, followed by India ...