Child stunting hits 25%, first rise in 10 years

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June 18, 2026 | 1:24pm

MANILA, Philippines — Child stunting in the Philippines jumped to 25% in 2025, the first increase in a decade, according to government nutrition data released this week. 

This means that out of every 100 Filipino children under 5 years old, about 25 are stunted, meaning they are too short for their age because of chronic malnutrition.

The figure is 1.7 percentage points higher than 2023 and now sits in the range the World Health Organization labels a "high public health concern." 

It breaks a downward and improving trend that started in 2015.  

The Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM 2) said in a statement that this threatens the country's efforts to fix its learning crisis, pointing out that stunted children arrive in school already behind in cognitive development, language and the ability to learn.

"The increase in stunting after a decade of decline should serve as a wake-up call for all of us. We cannot remediate in Grade 3 what was neglected in the first three years of life. If we are serious about solving the learning crisis, we must start by solving the nutrition crisis," said EDCOM 2 co-chair Rep. Roman Romulo, who also chairs the House basic education committee.

The stunting data is one of several findings by the DOST-Food and Nutrition Research Institute (DOST-FNRI) in a nationwide survey it conducted between April 23, 2025 and March 31, 2026. 

DOST has run the survey every two to three years since 1989. A comparison of the data across years shows stunting among Filipino children under 5 falling steadily from 45% in 1989 to a low of 24% in 2023, with one uptick in 2015. The 2025 rate of 25.3% reverses that trend for the first time in over a decade. 

EDCOM 2 said its research has "repeatedly shown that children who enter school malnourished face significant disadvantages in literacy, numeracy, and overall learning achievement."

Mindanao, Visayas regions have it worse

Stunting reached a whopping 36% in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, 34% in the Zamboanga Peninsula, 31% in the Negros Island Region and 30% in MIMAROPA. 

Rural rates stood at 28% against 23% in cities.

Older children were also not spared from high stunting rates. 

The survey logged stunting at 19% among 5- to 10-year-olds and 21% among adolescents aged 10 to 19. 

Another 19% of school-age children are underweight, with prevalence above 24% in BARMM, Zamboanga Peninsula, MIMAROPA and Bicol.

Families borrowing to eat

A third of Filipinos — 33% — go through moderate to severe food insecurity, according to the survey.

Of those, 65% buy food on credit, mostly from sari-sari stores, and 69% borrow from relatives to put food on the table.

DOST-FNRI also flagged some 17% of pregnant women as nutritionally at-risk, which raises the odds of pregnancy complications and newborn babies weighing less than they should.