Third-world struggles: The country’s on-going problem with sodium intake

For a third-world country like the Philippines, where the rising costs of products and basic human necessities seems to drown Filipinos in debt and struggle, a family may settle on foods such as canned or processed goods and instant noodles that are high in sodium just to survive the day. But beyond this economic hardship, a hidden problem may arise if one settles with these foods in their everyday lives.

Where food may lead to greater problems–the truth about high-sodium foods may put Filipinos at a greater risk.

Revealing the truth about sodium intake

A 2013 study by the Global Burden of Diseases Nutrition and Chronic Diseases Expert Group (NutriCoDE) revealed that Filipinos consume an average of 4.29 grams of sodium daily–far above the 2 grams recommended intake of the World Health Organization (WHO).

In 2020, the Stanford Medicine Center for Asian Health Research and Education conducted a study that revealed that one in every four Filipino adults has hypertension. At the time, this equated to around 12 million Filipino adults that are at risk due to the health condition. The study also revealed that the prevalence of chronic kidney disease is at around 35.94 percent–far above the global average.

Dr. Jane Lardizabal-Bunyi of the Philippine Society of Hypertension and Dr. Margarita Abalon-Trinidad of the Philippine Society of Nephrology highlighted the connection between high-sodium intake, hypertension and chronic kidney disease. The two supported reformulation efforts in sodium intake as proactive measures to counter the diseases associated with the high intake of sodium in Filipinos.

Furthermore, Dr. Juhani Capeding of the Philippine Society of Public Health Physicians and Nutritionist-dietitian Jeline Marie Corpuz associated the reliance on high-sodium foods such as instant noodles and the wider availability of these foods over healthier options as another contributor to the rising cases of chronic kidney disease and hypertension in the country.

Economic Deficiency

The statistics of the rising number and cost of dialysis in the country has also emphasized the need for a formulation of a plan to reduce the intake of Filipinos of foods that are high in sodium. In 2024, dialysis coverage in the country reached ₱1 million per patient. PhilHealth in 2023 also recorded ₱1.15 billion for hypertensive emergencies, ₱3.6 billion for stroke patients and ₱17.3 billion for dialysis treatments.

Dr. Valerie Gilbert Ulep of the Philippine Institute for Development Studies also stated that dialysis alone takes about 20-percent of all PhilHealth reimbursements.

Legal solution for a healthier option

Beyond the numbers, policymakers and health specialists call for the formulation of a plan to implement an urgent sodium reduction initiative in the Philippines.

Health authorities have stated that reducing sodium intake requires systematic action and not immediate, band-aid plans and just behavioral changes. Reforms such as a solution to the widespread access to canned and processed foods over healthier options must be fixed first that shall lead to the start of a solution to the on-going problem of the country in sodium intake.

Beyond economic struggle, the country calls for a reform in the health sector. When the time where economic struggle, health crisis and more problems are fixed–only then can we move on from calling the Philippines a third-world country.