Lives Cut Short: Rate of child deaths due to undernutrition in the Philippines now higher than global average

The Philippines has seen a steady decrease in the under-five child mortality in the past decades. From a child mortality rate of 42 per 1,000 live births in 1998, it is now down to 27 per 1,000 live births in 2015. This means that 27 out of 1,000 Filipino children die before reaching the age of 5 – slow but steady progress.

This study is the first Philippines-specific analysis of national hunger and undernutrition as an underlying determinant to Filipino child mortality, and to provide recommendations on strategies and interventions that can further improve child survival nationally.

The executive summary included on this page provides a scope of the problem and the study, the key findings from the study, and Save the Children’s recommendations going forward.