Tremaine Soca Warner and Zahra Gordon
T&T was recently ranked the third fattest country in the world based on a report in the UK's Daily Mail newspaper. The report listed countries by the average body mass index (BMI) of the population. Many may agree with the ranking, but what's the cause and how can the problem be addressed? The T&T Guardian spoke to the Minister of Health, pediatrician Dr Bratt and people trying to lose weight to find out what's going on.
At the Guardian south office, reporters and clerical employees had taken up a weight loss challenge even before the report was released. According to office manager Hazel Ross-Perot, she initiated the challenge because she wanted to lose weight in time to attend her daughter's graduation. Ross-Perot said she and others in the office noticed that they were not as slim as they used to be. They were also concerned about having high blood pressure.
To enter the challenge, participants pay a five dollar fee. They weigh in on Tuesdays and those who've gained weight are fined. The challenge will continue until June 12 and the person who loses the most weight will get to keep the money from fines. The process has been fun, however. "The motivation in doing it comes from doing it together as a team. That's really a big help so we have fun," said Ross-Perot. Participants have been eating more fruits and vegetables, walking together and playing cricket she added.
Health Minister Dr Fuad Khan said T&T had been increasing in size for the past 15 to 20 years. He said that among children under 10, the percentage of obesity had increased from 10 per cent to 25 per cent. Among adults the percentage had gone from between 25 and 30 per cent to 55 per cent.
Although Khan attributed the increase to the change in foods people are eating, like the gravitation towards more fast food, he said the fast food industry cannot be regulated. "What we can do is educate the population and ask the fast food industry and other food producers to reduce some of the food's negative ingredients."
The ministry has been operating a Fight the Fat campaign since 2011 trying to get people to eat healthier and get more exercise. Khan says the programme has been successful but needs to become more visible.
Last month Khan announced that soft drinks and other fatty foods would be removed from school lunches.
Pediatrician Dr David Bratt said, however, that children's diets have to be carefully monitored. "With children you can't count calories. It's very difficult and dangerous to do so. A child who is overweight, you don't put that child on a diet to lose weight. Children need calories to grow." He added that for a child who is overweight, the parent needs to slow down the child's weight increase by increasing physical activity.
According to Bratt, whether or not teenagers can diet depends on how much they have grown during adolescence. "If they've stopped growing, you can do it but it must be done under expert advice."
He said that Trinis eat too much fast food, pastries and processed snacks while they consume too many sweet drinks, juice and milk. He also said using formula for babies instead of breast milk tended to make children fatter. Moreso baby food from bottles and cans were not very nutritious.
When asked what types of food children and teenagers should eat, Bratt said, "rice, bhagi and peas." He added: "And they should be drinking mauby and green tea the way it used to be." Bratt also said that T&T had adopted a culture where "rice and peas" were regarded food for "poor people."
The T&T Guardian also spoke to Keisha Lindsay who lived in New York for 15 years before returning to T&T. Lindsay, a triathlete, said she believed the warm climate in T&T made it easier for citizens to exercise and keep fit as opposed to people in temperate countries. She said: "I lived in NY where almost half of the year is cold. Here, we are lucky to have nice weather all year round so there is no excuse really." Linsday also said that unlike other cities, Port-of-Spain had many open spaces such as the Queen's Park Savannah and the Lady Chancellor Hill where people could exercise so there was really no need to pay for expensive gym membership. Lindsay however admitted that maintaining a healthy diet in T&T was expensive and options were limited in most supermarkets.
"If you are trying to shop healthy and get things that are organic or hormone-free, you will not really find that in the grocery stores. You have to seek out these things in speciality shops." She also said she had noticed a growing group of health-conscious people in T&T who recognised the many of today's most common diseases were linked to poor dietary practices.
Local fitness trainer Rodney Vire said he was not really surprised by T&T's high placement on the index adding that you only have to go out on the streets at Carnival time to see the large number of citizens who are overweight and unfit. He said 15 years ago, there was a more "body-conscious" population that was very much preoccupied with being in shape.
"Unfortunately," he said, "we had kids who spend so much time in front of a Playstation and a Nintendo and that is the generation we see on the streets today. These are people in their 20s and 30s who literally do not look healthy and are not in good shape. Many young people spend way to much time doing nothing."
Vire is the owner of Rodney's Revolution (a Crossfit 12-12-12 affiliate) located at the Queen's Park Oval. He said another major issue leading to obesity is that food is far more accessible now than in previous years. He advises clients that when shopping, they should stay along the perimeter of the supermarket where the meat, fresh produce and dairy section are located.
"Try not to go into the middle. That is where the trap is. The middle is where you buy all the canned goods and all the preserved stuff."
Vire also said meals in T&T were typically high in carbohydrates. He used the example of a typical Sunday lunch which would include rice, macaroni pie, lentil peas, stewed chicken topped off with a large glass of soft drink or juice. He advocates that clients eat lean meats, large amounts of leafy vegetables and stay away from refined sugars.
He said another way to promote active lifestyles was to establish company plans that would afford employees time to take care of themselves and their bodies.
"Employers need to allow staff to rotate the time they come in," he said. "We need to look at some form of medical plan with a wellness programme so that twice or three times a week you will go to a prescribed place to work out for that time and then come back to work."
He added that most employees in T&T spent between two to four hours each day commuting to and from the workplace each day. When work and other activities are added to this schedule, employees are too exhausted to exercise. He said greater amounts of exercise would result in a stronger and more productive workforce.
Asked whether he thought it was expensive to keep fit and healthy in T&T, Vire said no. He said this was just an excuse since it is cheaper to prepare meals at home than it is to purchase food each day. He said there were also affordable gym packages such as those available at his fitness centre.
"The people who do the work, are the ones who get the results," he said. "The people who do the complaining are the ones who look the way the look and don't get any better."
