Obesity In Trinidad And Tobago Essay

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Obesity and Overweight in Trinidad and Tobago
Introduction
In Trinidad and Tobago, obese and overweight students at schools have doubled in the last decade. Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh has expressed concern about the levels of obesity and diabetes among the nation’s children and announced that a national policy on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) would be launched. In Trinidad, the rate of childhood obesity has been on a high rise over the past decades, and today, Trinidad is known to be the fifth fattest country in the world. Approximately a quarter of primary and secondary school age children, (24.6%), in Trinidad and Tobago are overweight or obese. Overweight and obesity are defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that …show more content…

Some public health experts also associate the development of obesity and overweight with socioeconomic status, urban lifestyle, family size, physical inactivity, educational status, cultural factors, and poor eating habits (Sodhi,2012). Persons who spend their leisure inactively such as in prolonged watching of television and playing of video games have been said to be at risk of obesity (Puhl & Heuer,2010). However, this is not always apparent because some cases of obesity are brought about by genetic factors. That is, if your child was born from a family of members who are overweight, then the child may end up being obese. Some researchers also attribute obesity and overweight to obesogenic environments where people are frequently exposed to and consume savory foods with hidden fats and sugars that can impair metabolism and lead to obesity ( Nyain,Nakeeb,Lyons et al,2012).
Effects
Childhood obesity is a leading public health concern because overweight-obese youth suffer from co-morbidities such as Type 2 diabetes, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular disease, conditions once considered limited to adults (Yoon
Myung & SoJung, 2009). Overweight children are at higher risk for remaining overweight

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