Cathy Buffonge has lived in Montserrat for nearly 40 years, many of which were spent in the health field. She has written extensively on the volcanic experience in Montserrat, as well as on social, cultural and other Montserrat events, and on Caribbean health issues.

What is obesity? It’s an extreme form of overweight. Each one of us, depending on our height, has an ideal weight range, which is determined by our body mass index (BMI).  BMI is calculated using a person’s weight and height -- weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. 

Sounds complicated? In most Caribbean countries you can ask a dietician, nutritionist or community nurse to calculate your BMI and tell you whether or not it is normal. CFNI has also produced a handy, colourful chart to show at a glance where our BMI stands. A BMI between 18 and 24 is within the normal range. A BMI of 25 or over is overweight, while 30 and above is obese. 

The more overweight we are, the more likely we are to develop diabetes or hypertension, and if we are obese we are even more at risk. We can also develop abnormal lipid/cholesterol levels, which place us at risk for heart disease. In addition, CFNI nutrition educator Dr Pauline Samuda explains, if we carry most of our weight around our waist rather than our hips, there is also a greater risk of cardiovascular disease (hypertension, stroke or heart disease).

Many of these risk factors are related to our modern lifestyle. In our modern world we do more driving than walking, sit at desks at work, and in front of the television at home, eat fewer natural foods like fresh fruits and vegetables, and more ready-prepared foods. This is having a detrimental effect on our bodies, resulting in obesity, hypertension and /or diabetes.

A worrying issue in the Caribbean is that more children and adolescents are becoming obese, putting them at a high risk for diabetes and hypertension at an even earlier age. So preventing obesity in children is another major challenge, and involves instilling a healthy lifestyle in children from an early age.
 
CFNI’s public health nutritionist Godfrey Xuereb urges everyone to pay more attention to healthy eating and regular exercise in order to prevent obesity, since improving our lifestyle can make all the difference in prevention. This includes eating more fresh vegetables and fruits, reducing the amount of sweet and fatty food we eat, and taking regular exercise.

We can also take our carbohydrates in a healthy complex form, such as whole wheat (brown) bread, whole grain cereals, brown rice and peas, and local ground provisions. For those who already have hypertension and / or diabetes, healthy eating and exercise are also the first line of attack and the key to controlling these diseases.

CFNI has recently produced a manual for health workers, Protocol for the Nutritional Management of Obesity, Diabetes and Hypertension in the Caribbean. Samuda and Xuereb have been visiting CFNI’s member countries to launch the manual and familiarize health workers with its concepts.

Through use of this manual, primary health care staff in the region are well placed to assist patients and their families in developing a healthy lifestyle and keeping these conditions under control. World Diabetes Day was observed during November, so this is a good time to think about changes we can make to our lifestyles in order to prevent and control obesity, diabetes and hypertension.