Roseau, Dominica (TDN) -- Obesity rates in Dominica among females under the age of twenty have surged more than 60 per cent in the past 33 years, according to a study by Washington University and published in the journal Lancet.
The comprehensive study which looked at the prevalence of overweight and obesity in close to 200 countries found that the number of people worldwide suffering from excessive weight, ballooned from 857 million in 1980 to 2.1 billion in 2013.
By 2013 in the case of Dominica 1 in 4 young girls were found to be obese while 3 in 4 over the age of twenty suffer the same fate. The rate for males under the age of twenty is more moderate at 15.2 percent and stands at 36.6 percent for those over the age of twenty.
The sobering rates mean that Dominica is second in the Caribbean in obesity only to Belize for females over the age of 20, and places fourth behind the Bahamas, Jamaica and Barbados for those under the age of 20.
At the same time the study lists Dominica’s ranking as the 26th most obese country in the world right after Australia but well before most of the European and other Caribbean countries. The Bahamas was the highest ranked in the Caribbean at number 9.
Obesity, which is defined as having a body mass index, which is the relationship between height and weight, of 30 or higher, is linked to higher risk of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure and bowel, oesophageal and pancreatic cancer.
The study should force authorities in Dominica to take a closer look at eating habits in a country quickly developing a taste for junk food and sugary treats.
Meanwhile, a separate scientific study recently presented at the ongoing European Congress on Obesity revealed that people who eat more than two portions of white bread daily are at a 40% increased risk of being obese compared with those with its low consumption.
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