About 14.2 percent of Filipino families experienced involuntary hunger at least once in the first three months of 2024, according to the result of a recent poll made by the Social Weather Station (SWS).
The recent figures surpassed last quarter's hunger incidence of 12.6 percent, SWS said.
According to the pollster, the 4.2 percent hunger rate in March 2024 was the sum of 12.2 percent who experienced "moderate hunger," or those who experienced hunger only once or a few times, and 2 percent who experienced "severe hunger" or those who experienced it often or always.
The rise in hunger levels came from the increase in hunger incidence from Metro Manila, Visayas, and Balance Luzon, while Mindanao experienced a decline.
SWS also noted that a higher proportion of families that typically consider themselves not poor experienced involuntary hunger in the first quarter of the year, going up from 5.9 percent in December 2023 to 9.8 percent in March 2024.
Conducted from March 21-25, 2024, the survey results are based on face-to-face interviews with 1,500 adults nationwide, with sampling error margins at 2.5 percent.
