The Multisectoral Task Force was composed of the Department of Health, The Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the Department of Science and Technology, and 14 medical specialty societies, including the Philippine Society of Hypertension, the Philippine Lipid Society and the Philippine Diabetes Association.

The Multisectoral Task Force was composed of the Department of Health, The Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the Department of Science and Technology, and 14 medical specialty societies, including the Philip­pine Society of Hypertension, the Philippine Lipid Society and the Philippine Diabetes Association.

According to a report by Dr. Dante Morales, Dr. Antonio Dans and Felicidad Velandria, writing for the group, the survey involves 2,636 households from 17 regions and 79 provinces. Over 2,700 children and more than 4,700 adults were part of the data pool. Using questionnaires and face-to-face interview, the survey determined their medical history, lifestyle, dietary intake and presence of various diseases. All participants underwent physical and biochemical exams.

Filipino lifestyles

The prevalence of fasting hyperglycemia in this study is 4.6 percent, an increase from the previous prevalence of 4 percent. Important to note is that 3.4 percent were positive for an FBS > 125 mg/dL. By history, 2.6 percent were positive, and 4.6 percent were positive either by FBS or history. Diabetes was highest in the age group 50-59, with Southern Mindanao having the highest incidence.

Ninety-four percent of the population has a blood sugar within the normal range. The prevalence of impaired fasting glucose-a prediabetic condition-is 3.2 percent. This means based on an estimated population of 80 million, approximately 5.28-million Filipinos have abnormal blood sugars.

Currently 2 out of 10 Filipinos above 20 years of age are hypertensive, the prevalence of hypertension in the country is 17.4 percent, a decrease of 4 percent from the previous survey.

Body beautiful

How is the Filipino body habitus changing? Small, lithe and lean is the traditional body type-but given the abundance of nutrition and interactions between different gene pools-the Filipino is now taller, and is more likely to be bulkier than a generation ago.
Five percent of the population has a body mass index (BMI) greater than 30, and 19.6 percent are overweight. Twenty four-percent of the population is overweight or obese, an increase from 20 percent in 1998. Seven percent of the obese are women, and 3 percent are men. Obesity is most prevalent among those aged 40-59 years.
Another way of assessing obesity is by measuring the waist-hip ratio (WHR). An abnormal WHR in males is more than 1.0, and for females, more than 0.83. The mean national waist hip ratios are 0.91 and 0.85 respectively.

Metabolic ills

Abnormal biochemical profiles like high cholesterol, high fat levels, blood sugar, overweight and obesity predispose persons with these problems to lifestyle diseases like hypertension, diabetes and obesity. These diseases, in turn, increase the risk for stroke and heart attack.

Biochemical indices from the 6th NHS disclose surprising low results and are summarized as follows:

1. Total cholesterol (184.4 mg/dl), LDL cholesterol (119.4 mg/dl), HDL cholesterol (42.4mg/dl) and triglycerides (118 mg/dl). 

Eight percent of adults have total cholesterol > 240 mg/dl, up from 4 percent in the 1998 survey. The highest levels are seen in patients age 50-59. More women have high cholesterol levels. The highest cholesterol are seen in those from Eastern Visayas.
2. Fifty-four percent of adults have low HDL cholesterol levels. Even LDL levels are not too high, with only 3,7 percent of the population having an LDL of > 190 mg/dl.

Twenty-one percent have triglycerides levels above 150 mg/dL.

3. The prevalence of fasting hyperglycemia in this study is 3.4 percent.

Pinoy lifestyle

The true prevalence of hypertension in the Philippines is 17.4 percent. Two out of 10 Filipinos above 20 years of age are hypertensive, with those about 70 years registering the highest readings. Given the population in 2003, the projection is that there are 7.76-million Filipinos with hypertension that year.

Dr. Rody Sy, a cardiologist from LJP-PGH, projects that if each hypertensive took an anti- hypertensive of P5 a day, that would mean spending P 14.2 billion a year.

The mean systolic blood pressure is 118 mm Hg; diastolic blood pressure is 77.9 mm Hg. As with the previous obser­vations with cholesterol and blood sugar, the trend is toward an increasing blood pressure after age 40. 

One of five Filipinos has at least one of the risk factors, for cardiovascular disease (CVD), says Dr. Antonio Dans, from the UP PGH, one of the investigators in the survey. CVD's account for 76 out of 100,000 deaths annually. 

Dr. Mariano Lopez reports that the incidence of angina is 12.5 percent, and Dr. Artemio Roxas, a neurologist says stroke prevalence is 1.4 percent, which is lower than previous data.

There are many Filipino smokers, the prevalence of smoking is alarmingly high, in 34.8 percent of the popula­tion. Of these, 56 percent are men and 12 percent women and highest among persons age 40-49. Dans further points out that "Smoking by itself is a very important risk factor. It should make us think that we [doctors] spend so much time treating hypertension [and other diseases], but we spend so little time [addressing the] smoking [problem]."

Dr. Lenora Fernandez sites the Philippine GYTS survey of 2000 which shows that among secondary students, 12 percent smoked before they were 10 years o|d, and 27 percent were using any form of tobacco. 

Time for action

The 6th National Health Survey writing group advocates aggressive primary prevention, adequate screening (screening for diabetes above age 50 for example) and appropriate management of lifestyle risk and metabolic risk factors to decrease the incidence of diabetes, stroke, heart attack and obesity.

The government should continue to educate and promote a healthy - lifestyle through its advocacy — and demonstrate it has its citizen's best interest truly at heart.

But the reality is-its one-day at a time, for each of us needs to be our own vanguard of good health. After all, to quote a cliche: Health is wealth. And if the nation's citizens are healthy: then half the battle is already won. - HN