The biggest nutrition challenge today isn’t knowing what to eat. It’s learning how to live in a world where food is constantly competing for our attention. Convenience, easy access to food, and constant exposure are no longer temporary trends, but they are part of modern life and will only continue to grow. We cannot control these changes, but we can control how we respond to them in ways that protect and support our health.
Growing up in the 1980s, I ate meals at regular times. Sometimes I’d have biscuits or a small bag of chichirya from the local sari-sari store. Eating out with my family was a treat—maybe once a month—and family trips were rare. I don’t remember craving sweets as much as people seem to now.
If my childhood felt different from today’s food scene, just think about the generations before us. My late mom used to tell me how slim people were when she was young, and how many women her age had 22-inch waistlines or even smaller in their 20s.
