According to a new report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), obesity and overweight are on the rise throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, and are particularly prevalent among women and children. Close to 360 million people – around 58 percent of the inhabitants of the region – are overweight with the highest rates observed in the Bahamas (69 percent), Mexico (64 percent) and Chile (63 percent). With the exception of Haiti, Paraguay and Nicaragua, overweight affects more than half the population of all countries in the region.
The report also noted obesity affects 140 million people – 23 percent of the region’s population – and that the highest rates are to be found in the Caribbean countries of Barbados (36 percent) Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua and Barbuda all at around 31 percent.
The increase in obesity has disproportionately impacted women: in more than 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, the rate of female obesity is 10 percentage points higher than that of men.
According to FAO, “The alarming rates of overweight and obesity in Latin America and the Caribbean should act as a wake up call to governments in the region to introduce policies that address all forms of hunger and malnutrition by linking food security, sustainability, agriculture, nutrition and health.”
PAHO’s Director explained that: “the region faces a double burden of malnutrition. This needs to be tackled through balanced diets that include fresh, healthy, nutritious and sustainably produced food, as well as addressing the main social factors that determine malnutrition, such as lack of access to healthy food, water and sanitation, education and health services, and social protection programs, among others.”