PORT of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago– Studies conducted by the University of the West Indies (UWI) estimate that one in every four adults in some Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries has diabetes.
More worrying is the doubling of overweight and obesity in children less than five years, along with the high rates in adolescence, as obesity is one of the major risk factors for Type 2 diabetes.
Studies also revealed that both obesity and diabetes tend to be significantly higher in women than in men, with, on average, women being twice as likely to be obese and 60 per cent more likely to have diabetes.
Dr. Joy St. John, Director of Surveillance, Prevention and Disease Control at the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), said: “This data signals that diabetes can be a big problem for years to come.”
Dr. St. John also indicated that cultural norms within the Caribbean are a major contributing factor. However, she stressed that it is imperative for persons to place their health before personal preferences.
Diabetes is a chronic disease that occurs either when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. Insulin is a hormone that regulates blood sugar to give us the energy that we need to live. Uncontrolled levels of insulin in the body can have dire consequences. This is seen in the 2011 data for CARICOM where the estimated number of premature deaths – persons under 70 years – from diabetes was 39 per 100,000 population: Males – 58 per 100,000 and Females 35 per 100,000 (PAHO/WHO).
A common effect of uncontrolled diabetes is hyperglycaemia, or high blood sugar, which over time leads to serious damage to many of the body’s systems. High blood sugar can seriously compromise the systems of the body and affect every major organ in the body, increasing the risk of heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure, nerve damage, blindness, impotence and infections that can lead to amputations. The overall risk of dying among people with diabetes is at least double that of persons without diabetes.
However, simple healthy lifestyle measures have been shown to be effective in preventing and delaying the onset of type 2 diabetes. To help prevent Type 2 diabetes and its complications, people should:
• Avoid tobacco use
• Eat a healthy diet which includes at least five servings of fruits and vegetables each day and reduce intake of fats and sugars
• Remain physically active – at least 30 minutes of regular moderate-intensity physical activity on most week days (for adults); and 60 minutes moderate to vigorous physical activity every day (for children)
• Maintain a normal body weight
To assist countries to halt and reverse the rise in child and adolescent obesity, the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) developed a Plan of Action “Promoting Healthy Weights in the Caribbean: Prevention and Control of Childhood Obesity, 2014-2019” which can guide implementation of activities in countries with technical support from CARPHA where necessary.
The theme for this year’s World Health Day is “Beat Diabetes”. CARPHA is urging everyone to take responsibility for their health by adopting healthy lifestyle practices to prevent and control the high rates of diabetes in our CARICOM countries.
Health issues will continue to escalate with the advancement of technology. These two have coupled themselves and formed a union. The sad story of technological advancement is that we individuals allow it to consume most of our time.
Basically we become obsess with new technology and ignore most other areas in our lives, health being one of those. Take the introduction of cell phones as an example.
Individuals seem to spend almost their entire spare or down time on these devices. Ignoring physical or social interaction with others , we isolate ourselves from others, including family members and friends. And even with friends you can see everyone sitting with their cell phone in hand ir communicating with another who is not in their presence.
The youths of today spend more than two thirds of their idle time either watching television or on their cell phones. They take breaks only to feed their bodies with foods, most of which is unhealthy, especially when coupled with lack of exercise.
The young men are no longer interested in participating in sports, apart from watching it on television, the young ladies are comfortable sitting in isolation thumbing through their phones. This is especially true in most of the developed countries. We have enslaved ourselves to these devices. Nothing else in life seem to be of more importance.
We become so inactive that our bodies begin to store fat at high rate and have no avenue of burning it up due to our inactiveness.
Most of us are overweight and have become lazy, though we will be quick to deny it and even feel offended if described in the manner, though the physical evident is very glaring.
Somehow in a twisted way we have become proud being overweight.
We are constantly changing our wardrobe in adjustment of our body size and spend little time or pride in caring for ourselves.
The result, a slow but deadly erosion of our health over time.
We visit the doctor who prescribe these toxic chemicals to us , pills or medication so as to help us regulate the functioning of our vital organs. Not understanding the dire side effects and damages these chemicals, ( prescribed pills) have when used over lengthy periods. One of the reasons for the increase in cancer.
We need to spend a little more time eating healthier and nurturing and exercising our bodies. Myself included.
The storage of excess fat in the body along with little or no physical exercise creates a chemical imbalance in our bodies that also speeds up the process of depression. Another deadly silent killer.