Health Status of Family Members

Based on the 2020 Annual Poverty Indicators Survey (APIS), 7.0 percent of the total family members reported that they got ill/sick or injured in the past month preceding the survey; that is, from 01 to 30 June 2020. Of those family members who got ill/sick or injured, 5.3 percentage points had it once; 1.0 percentage point, twice; and less than one percentage point, thrice (0.2%) or more than thrice (0.5%). (Table 1 and Figure 1)
 

Across regions, the three regions with highest percentages of family members who got ill/sick or injured one month preceding the survey were Caraga (16.7%), Region XII– SOCCSKSARGEN (12.0%), and Region V – Bicol (11.6%). On the other hand, those that posted lowest percentages of family members who got ill/sick or injured were Region XI – Davao (2.9%), Region VII – Central Visayas (3.0%), and Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) (3.1%). (Table 1 and Figure 2)

On the number of times the person got ill/sick or injured, the percentage of family members who got it only once was recorded highest in Caraga with 12.1 percent. This was followed by Region V – Bicol (9.0%), Region IV-A – CALABARZON (7.9%), and MIMAROPA Region (7.7%). (Table 1)

By residence, rural areas (7.8%) had higher percentage of family members who got ill/sick or injured one month preceding the survey than those living in the urban areas (6.3%) which was consistent across frequency of occurrence. (Table 1)

By sex, males (7.2%) had a higher percentage of family members who got ill/sick or injured compared to females (6.8%). Meanwhile, the percentage points for the number of times the person got ill/sick or injured were almost the same for both male and female. (Table 1)

Of the total family members five years old and over who got ill/sick or injured, about 34.6 percent were not able to go to work/school or were not able to perform daily activities. (Table 2 and Figure 3)   

Across regions, the top three regions with highest percentages of the population 5 years and over who got sick/ill or injured who did not go to work/school or perform daily activities were Region II – Cagayan Valley (55.7%), Region IX – Zamboanga Peninsula (49.7%), and Region VIII – Eastern Visayas (47.3%). Whereas Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM, 21.5%), Caraga (22.3%), and Region I – Ilocos (25.6%) registered the lowest percentages.  (Table 2)

By residence status, those living in rural areas (37.3%) had higher percentage of family members who were not able to go to work/school nor performed daily activities due to their illness/sickness or injury compared with those from urban areas (31.5%). (Table 2)

By sex, a higher percentage of those who were not able to go to work/school nor performed daily activities due to their illness/sickness or injury was reported among males (38.1%) than females (31.0%).  (Table 2)

At the national level, the most common duration in terms of the number of days not being able to go to work or school nor performed daily activities due to illness/sickness or injury in the past month was four to seven days with 25.2 percent. Across regions, the top three regions with highest percentages of four to seven days not being able to go to work or school nor performed daily activities were in MIMAROPA Region (35.5%), Region VII – Central Visayas (32.9%), and Region XI – Davao (32.4%). (Table 3 and Figure 4)
 

By residence, the most common number of days of not being able to go to work/school nor performed daily activities of family member living in urban with was two days (22.1%) while those in rural areas it was four to seven days (28.4%). (Table 3)

Females had higher percentage (34.9%) of being absent for one to two days as compared with the males (28.5%). On the contrary, males (17.7%) reported a higher percentage of being absent for almost one month than females (14.9%). (Table 3)

Nutrition Status of Children Aged 0 to 5 Years Old

At the national level, about three in every four (76.3%) children age 0 to 5 years were weighed in the past 12 months preceding the survey. (Table 4 and Figure 5)
 

Among children aged 0 to 5 years who were weighed in the past 12 months; 65.4 percent were weighed 1 to 3 times; 19.9 percent, 4 to 7 times; and 14.3 percent, 8 to 15 times. (Table 4 and Figure 6)

By region, the three regions with highest percentages of children weighed in the past 12 months were in Region I – Ilocos (88.4%), Region V – Bicol (87.5%), and MIMAROPA Region (85.6%). (Table 4)

Meanwhile, the three regions with lowest percentages were BARMM (45.5%), National Capital Region (NCR) (70.0%), and Region IV-A – CALABARZON (72.8%). Across all regions, most children aged 0 to 5 years old were weighed 1 to 3 times in the past 12 months. (Table 4)

As to residence, rural areas (78.5%) had a higher percentage of children aged 0 to 5 years old weighed in the past 12 months compared to urban areas (73.9%), with 1 to 3 times in the most common frequency of weighing for both rural and urban areas. (Table 4)

By sex, females (77.0%) had a higher percentage of being weighed in the past 12 months as compared to males (75.6%). Among those weighed, most males (64.7%) and females (66.2%) reported being weighed for about 1 to 3 times. (Table 4)

DENNIS S. MAPA, Ph.D.
Undersecretary
National Statistician and Civil Registrar General

TECHNICAL NOTES

The Annual Poverty lndicators Survey (APIS) is a nationwide survey conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) that is designed to provide non-income indicators related to poverty at the national level. lt also gathered data on the socio-economic profile of families and other information related to their living condition. ln the 2020 APIS, around 44,000 sample households were covered nationwide.

Health and Nutrition Status

The 2020 APIS included questions related to health status which is essential for health planners in the formulation of plans and programs to improve public health service deliveries. This report presents the health status of family members and whether the illness/sickness or injury have been the reason for their absence from work or school or not being able to perform daily activities one month preceding the survey.

This report relates to the unhealthy condition a family member experienced during the past month. Illness refers to the feeling of certain unhealthy condition on a person’s body or mind due to disease or fatigue. Meanwhile injured refers to sustained bodily damages, hurts, or loss of a person.

Information on Operation “Timbang” were also collected to provide data on the improvement of policy instruments of the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition. This report also presents the number of family members aged 0 to 5 years old who were weighed during the past 12 months preceding the survey and the number of times they were weighed.

Measurement of weight among children included in this report are those done in government facilities like health centers, rural health units, day care centers, schools, house-to-house weighing, in private clinics, or hospitals. For government health facilities, measurement was taken by barangay health workers, barangay nutrition scholars, and nurses and doctors in the barangay, while for private institutions, measurement were taken by nurses, doctors, and other health workers. Weight measurement of children who were done by their parents/ caregiver using their own weighing scale or tape measure were not included in this report.