March 5, 2025
Combating the obesity crisis
Results of a study published in The Lancet medical journal on Tuesday, World Obesity Day, are not encouraging. In fact, an Agence France Presse report aptly stated that the study painted a grim picture of one of the great health challenges of the century.
The research, using data from 204 countries, found that the number of overweight or obese people worldwide rose from 929 million in 1990 to 2.6 billion in 2021. That led scientists to project that by the year 2050 some 3.8 billion adults, around 60 per cent of the global adult population, will be overweight or obese. Additionally, they predicted a 121 per cent increase in obesity among children and adolescents worldwide.
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The researchers have also warned that if the world continues on that trend health systems will come under crippling pressure with approximately a quarter of the world’s obese expected to be aged over 65 by 2050.
The research, we are told, is based on figures from the Global Burden of Disease study from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, which brings together thousands of researchers across the world and is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
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The results of the study are indeed disheartening, especially for us in this region as the scientists have warned that one-third of all obese young people will be living in two regions — North Africa and the Middle East, and Latin America and the Caribbean.
However, as co-author of the study, Ms Jessica Kerr from Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Australia has pointed out: It is not too late to act. What is needed, she said, is greater political will “to transform diets within sustainable global food systems”.
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Thankfully, that commitment is not a problem among Caribbean governments, especially here in Jamaica where the Administration has implemented a number of policies including food-based dietary guidelines and wellness campaigns that support proper nutrition and encourage physical activity.
But, as Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton — who has been crusading on this issue since his appointment — has repeatedly pointed out, “combating this crisis requires each of us to take responsibility for our health”.
Based on our observations, more Jamaicans are taking that message seriously as there is increased activity, not just among people exercising daily, but with corporate entities staging wellness and healthy lifestyle programmes for staff in which they have incorporated the health and wellness ministry’s Know Your Numbers campaign.
Those efforts, though, cannot be enough, as there are still too many of our people falling victim to non-communicable diseases, which, at last check, amounted to 80 per cent of all deaths in Jamaica.
Against that background, we urge all Jamaicans to embrace and act on the appeals for us to make healthy food choices and engage in more physical activity.
The general recommendation by health experts is that adults do at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity; or at least 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous intensity aerobic physical activity; or a combination of both throughout the week, or simply walk. For children and adolescents, the recommendation is for 60 minutes of moderate-intensity daily physical activity that can include stretching, dancing, running, taking the stairs, doing squats, jumping jacks, and gardening.
We owe it to ourselves and our families.
