Quezon City authorities affirmed over the weekend that the benefits of senior citizens will remain one of the top priorities in the city government’s poverty alleviating measures as the number of the elderly in the country is expected to reach nearly 20 million by 2040.

Dr. LaRainne Sarmiento, chairman of the Quezon City anti-poverty integration task force, said this will be the city’s continuing commitment to the public although the youth comprises 33 percent of the city’s population.

Speaking before a forum organized by the South Triangle Senior Citizens Association, Sarmiento said the increase in the number of senior citizens (60 years old and above) can be attributed to the longer lifespan of Filipinos and advancement in science and proper nutrition for the elderly.

“Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. wants the city government to continue providing better services to the senior citizens,’’ Sarmiento said.

Citing projections of the National Statistics Office, the number of senior citizens in the country is expected to swell in the next three decades with the current trend.

The NSO report revealed that in 2005, the number of the elderly comprise 6.1 percent or 5.3 million of the nation’s population, with the proportion expected to increase to 13.8 percent or 19.6 million in 2040.

Sarmiento said that the city government will provide valuable assistance to ensure that the health and well being through proper nutrition, exercise and healthful yet simple lifestyles of the senior citizens are strictly followed.

At the barangay level, chairman Celso de Veas of barangay 2-B has organized a senior citizens group doing calisthenics and light and appropriate workouts every Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at the village playground to keep the elderly trim and fit.

“Ang mga senior citizens ng barangay ay larawan ng ating mga magulang kung kaya napagkasunduan namin dito sa barangay na mag-organisa ng fitness exercise session three times a week para sa kanila,’’ De Veas added.

As concurrent head of the Quezon City Sikap Buhay Entrepreneurship and Cooperative Office, Sarmiento urged the elderly group to keep a close watch against malnutrition, anemia, decreased appetite and physical inactivity.

She also encouraged the senior citizens groups in the city to entice the middle age and the youth groups to include in their daily food consumption the “wonder leafy malunggay’’ due to its numerous health benefits.