Big problem in SVG

Kenton X. Chance Tue, Jul 13, 2010

Mardi Gras, held last Tuesday, was a chance for artisans to showcase their talent and creativity in constume making, but the display also brought to fore the issue of obesity.{{more}}

Health officials are worried that if this is left unchecked, there could be serious implications for the collective health and economy of the nation.

While statistics are not available on obesity among Vincentian adults, Joyce Burgin, Assistant Nutritionist at the Ministry of Health and The Environment, believes that the problem is an obvious one.

“It is a clear indication that you can see. As a matter of fact, you could walk around and see,” she told Searchlight.

The number of overweight persons in this country became startlingly obvious during last week’s Carnival celebrations, especially on Tuesday, with many masqueraders, of all ages, being visibly overweight.

Burgin said that with the increase in the number of vehicles in this country, Vincentians are not walking and exercising as much as our fore parents did.

“Maybe the only time people do get some exercise is when it is Carnival and they don’t have a choice. They have to park their vehicles to come into town to look at the costumes or whatever,” she said.

In the five years ending 2009, the Ministry of Health and the Environment, in its normal monitoring, collected data on the nutritional status of 17,606 Vincentian children zero to 59 months old.

That translates to an average of 3,521 children a year.

On average, each year, 9.86 per cent or 347 of these children were deemed “obese” by local health standards while a further 4.2 per cent were “moderately overweight”.

A total of 1.3 per cent or 229 of these 17,606 children were deemed to be “severely underweight”.

“Looking at the pattern, what you find, the analysis is actually showing that more children are becoming overweight than are actually underweight,” Burgin said.

She told SEARCHLIGHT the Ministry of Health and the Environment is of the view that when five per cent or more children under five years are obese, it is cause for concern.

“But there are new stipulations that are now being instituted so that we can have the same standards that are used overseas. Some of them we don’t have as yet,” Burgin added.

She believes that statistical analysis will reveal similar numbers for the adult population in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Burgin explained that medically, each individual, based on his or her age and height, has an ideal weight for their bone structure, which should be maintained throughout life.

“Once you become an adult, you are supposed to taper off and maintain that specific weight,” she said.

This ideal weight can be calculated using several different protocols, the most accurate of which is Body Mass Index (BMI), Burgin said.

BMI is calculated by dividing your weight in kilograms by your height in metres squared.

“Once it is between 18 and 24.9, you are considered [to be] within a healthy range,” Burgin said.

Anyone with a BMI between 25 and 29 is overweight while a BMI of 30 and above is considered obese.

Burgin told Searchlight that an unhealthy weight, in most instances, results from an imbalance between what you eat and the amount of energy you use up.

“Some of it may be genetic but this is not always the case and I think sometimes people use this as an excuse,” she said.

Chief Medical Officer Dr. St. Clair Thomas explained that while obesity exists in St.Vincent and the Grenadines, the extent of it is “not known exactly”, but “it is not a big, big problem as in some other countries.”

Thomas, an Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) specialist, said people with unhealthy weight are at greater risk of developing certain diseases and greater intensity of those conditions.

These include hypertension, heart diseases, blocking of the arteries, cancers, diabetes, stroke, arthritis, gall bladder diseases, stress, incontinence, mental irregularities, pregnancy complications, and, increased facial hair in women.

“Persons in the economy now have to turn around and look after those diseases in those individuals. That is how you work out the economic impact,” he told Searchlight.

Thomas told Searchlight that weight is like a bank account.

“I often tell patients and persons, obesity and overweight is like money in the bank. The more you put in, it’s the more you have. The less you spend, it’s the more you have in the bank,” he said.

Meanwhile, Burgin said that to prevent that account from growing too large, a “normal healthy adult” should exercise 30 minutes a day at least three times per week. Children should exercise at least one hour every day, she said.

It is believed that an improved standard of living, a more sedentary lifestyle, and culture, contribute to an increasing number of Vincentians having an unhealthy weight.