PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - The figures have been known for some years now— over half of the adult population of Trinidad and Tobago is overweight. But a recent comparative statistic, which ranks T&T as the third fattest country in the world, emphasises just how dire this situation is.
Such statistics should be taken with a pinch of salt (but no more than a pinch). Nonetheless, previous surveys have consistently placed this country in the top 20 nations with overweight populations. And this is almost certainly the core reason that most Trinidadians and Tobagonians die from lifestyle diseases, such as heart attacks, strokes, diabetes and even cancer.
These four diseases alone account for about 60 per cent of deaths every year, and each one has been linked to overweight. Put another way, six out of every ten persons in T&T could probably live ten to 20 years longer, if they kept their weight at the optimum level and took other health-care precautions.