Ilonggo indigents' budgetary allocation on food and its implications

Abstract

The research reveals that the type and amount of food taken by the family is determined by family income and the number of the family members. Also, the protein consumption is correlated with carbohydrate and vegetable consumption which means that families usually choose which food type should be given priority during the meal. Pased on the sixty (60) purposely sampled poorest of the poor household-representatives from six barangays of Iloilo City, the data shows that the main protein source were chicken, pork, fish, eggs, preserved or canned products and beans. The average of protein intake of each person is 23.84 grams/day which is good only to a child less than 1 year old, but it is way below the recommended daily intake of 49 - 67 grams/person/day for adults. The average carbohydrate intake mainly from rice supplemented by bread 219g/person/day. The DOH recommends an average carbohydrate in-take of approximately 555g daily. The vegetable intake of the respondents is usually in the form of vegetable mix like “pinakbet” and “laswa” averaging ¼ to 1 serving per person per day. The portion of the family income spent on food ranges from 45% to 230% averaging at 100%.