A typical diet of a young Filipino includes instant noodles, chips, grilled street food and carbonated drinks.
A recent study of 19,000 young Filipinos aged 15-24 showed that youths snack or eat these unhealthy choices at least once a week and still consider themselves in good health.
In terms of exercise, two out of three young Filipinos engage in physical exercise and 67 percent do it at least twice a week. More young men than women regularly exercise.
These are among the findings of the 2013 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality (YAFS 4) conducted by the Demographic Research and Development Foundation (DRDF) and the University of the Philippines Population Institute (UPPI).
When it comes to leisure activities, media and technology related activities dominate young people’s choices – watching television (49 percent), texting (30 percent), listening to music (22 percent) and surfing the Internet (13 percent).
This is the fourth time the national survey was conducted and the first time that questions about nutrition were asked.
Sixty eight percent reported that they consume carbonated drinks at least once a week.
Six in 10 have instant noodles and chips in their weekly fare while slightly more than half eat grilled street food at least once a week.
But “they still consider themselves in good health, with 16 percent even giving themselves very healthy self-assessment, while 26 percent said they are healthier than average,” according to Dr. Grace Crus, a demographer and the main author of the study.
They also find their body weight as “normal” or “all right” while 20 percent said that they feel they are too thin.
… BUT are less involved in drugs, alcohol and smoking
While there will always be young people who experiment with sex, drugs and alcohol, today’s generation of young Filipinos seems to behave better than their counterpart a decade ago.
Findings from the 2013 YAFS 4 show that the levels of current drug use, drinking alcohol and smoking among young people aged 15-24 have dropped considerably.
The decline appears in males and females.
The percentage of young people who are “current smokers” declined from 20.9 percent in 2002 to 19.7 percent in 2013.
Eleven years ago, 41 percent young Filipinos reported to be “current alcohol drinkers”. Now, only 37 percent of young adults are engaged in this behavior.
The most substantial decline is found in drug use.
Only 4 percent admitted to have ever used drugs in 2013, compared to almost 11 percent in 2002.
The National Capital Region has the highest level of youth smokers at 27 percent) while ARMM registered the lowest, with only 12 percent.
No analysis was done yet to explain the pattern in risk behaviors displayed by the current generation of Filipino youth, but the latest findings should give adults less reason to worry.
“Perhaps smoking, drinking and drug use have become too expensive for them; the youth has found other vices, or they are just getting more responsible”said Dr. Nimfa B. Ogena, professor of demography at the UPPI and the main author of the paper.
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