The National Nutrition Council (NNC) has called for better access to affordable, safe, and nutritious food through its National Nutrition Month celebration with the theme, "Healthy diet gawing affordable for all."

"The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported that about 75.2 million Filipinos could not afford a healthy diet in 2020. Globally, the average cost of a healthy diet is USD 3.54 per person per day. Since 2017, the cost of a healthy diet consistently increased from Php226.60 (USD 3.84), Php236.04 (USD 4.00) in 2018, Php238.9 (USD 4.05) in 2019, and Php242.53 (USD 4.11) in 2020. Due to food prices surge, conflicts, and climate change, the cost of a healthy diet is predicted to continue to rise for the next years," said NNC in a statement on Tuesday, July 4.

This initiative can be achieved through shared actions from public and private stakeholders, said the NNC.

The council advised that this year's campaign aims to: "1) engage consumers to support improvements in levels of diet quality towards sustainable healthy diets; 2) generate participation of stakeholders at various levels on actions towards enabling access to affordable, sustainable healthy diets; and 3) call support for the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition 2023-2028 as the framework for action to improve nutrition security."

The NNC also encouraged Filipinos to exclusively breastfeed babies until they reach two years of age, consume fresh foods, limit the consumption of processed foods, have family and community food gardens, and support local farmers by buying produce from them

According to a Philippine Statistics Authority report in 2021, an average Filipino family of five needs an income of P12,082 per month to meet their basic food and non-food needs.

Meanwhile, the 2021 Expanded National Nutrition Survey found that three out of 10 households experienced moderate and severe food insecurity.