The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) Reports 2015 and 2018 claimed that the region is facing growing childhood and female obesity challenges. The CARPHA 2015 Report disclosed that childhood obesity was developing notwithstanding improvements in the overall health status of children and young people over recent decades. CARPHA stated, “One in every five of our children carry unhealthy weights and risk developing non-communicable diseases (NCDs), like diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, later in life.” This will result in “higher lifetime health costs for the individual and the state.” http://carpha.org/articles/ID/53/Promoting-Healthy-Weights-in-the-Caribbean-Safeguarding-our-future-development.
In 2012, the PANAM STEPS Report on NCDs indicated an increase in heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancers and certain respiratory diseases in Trinidad and Tobago. It reported that NCDs account for over 60% of premature loss of life (death before 70 years).
According to Dr Virginia Asin-Oostburg, CARPHA Director for Surveillance, Disease Prevention and Control, “women in the Caribbean have higher rates of obesity in terms of Body Mass Index (BMI) compared to men. They also have higher rates of abdominal obesity and are likely to be 3 times more obese than men.” http://carpha.org/articles/ID/186/Obesity-and-Overweight-on-the-Rise-Among-Women-in-the-Caribbean
The growing 'fat' society syndrome among the adult and young population is related to several socio-economic factors daily:
*The demands of work, sometimes doing two or more jobs and also striving for educational advancement. This will impact more heavily upon women as generally they are expected to return home from work/education and take care of the home.
* Long hours in traffic- economic development can have indirect costs such as an unhealthy lifestyle.
*Stress caused by the multiple demands of the modern fast-paced world.
*Leisure activities that involve consumption levels of food and beverages that are in high calories and bad cholesterol. The growth of the non-physical entertainment industry such as the movie industry and theme parks have been associated with high consumption of proceed foods which can result in obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and cancer if they go unchecked.
*The daily demands of the education curriculum especially those students who are caught in the extra lesson phenomenon. Unlike in the past where play was part and parcel of the daily activities of children during and post-school activities, today children physical leisure activities are being sacrificed for extra lessons.
*Sedentary social activities including computer games and an overall low level of intense physical activities are also contributing to the growing waistline not only among older adults but also younger adults and children.
In addition to maintaining a healthy diet, physical activity is important in establishing an overall healthy lifestyle and society.
*There must be effective advocacy for promoting the benefits of sport and physical activity and increasing participation rates across the population. There must be a collaborative effort by various ministries such as Health, Sport and Youth Affairs, NGOs, and the private sector.
*Administrators must not assume that by indicating that physical activity is beneficial, the population would develop an active lifestyle. Any approach to making physical activity effective from a health perspective would require an understanding of the many factors that influence its participation.
*Although sport and health camps would be able to yield the best benefits for participants, the effectiveness of these programmes would be optimum when there is continuity beyond the controlled environment of the camps. For effective continuity to take place, support has to come from parents, guardians, sport and physical clubs, community groups and the private sector. Parents and adults have to lead by example consistently.
In addition to the benefit of a healthier society through increased and continuous physical activity; the costs of health care may also take a nosedive which will be a boon to individuals and the government especially in light of growing economic challenges.
"I don't feel it is necessary to know exactly what I am. The main interest in life and work is to become someone else that you were not in the beginning." Michel Foucaultkeith