The Economist Pocket World of Figures 2014 placed Barbados at the top of the global list of countries with the largest share of overweight women.
Although the figures data back some four years – the latest year for which there was data – the statistics show that 57.2 per cent of Barbadian women were obese, followed by Kuwait (55.2) and Trinidad and Tobago (52.2). No Caribbean country made the list for men.
Sir George Alleyne, former director of the Pan American Health Organisation, said he knew the figures were high for the Caribbean, but these “caught me by surprise”.
Some online disregarded the article as a blatant “lie”, pointing to morbid obesity in the United States. Others welcomed the debate to start healthier lifestyles.
Leif Jensen: In Europe it is not that accepted to be obese . . . while in Barbados, things seem different. No matter the weight, the girls seem to me to be very confident and proud of themselves; and expose their bodies to the fullest.
Carl Husbands: If everyone is so concerned about the health consequences of the current foods that are being consumed by Bajan women, then let’s us go and petition the shopping clubs, supermarkets, shops and restaurants to offer healthy alternatives.
Bim Bum: All you have to do is check out CBC-TV outside broadcast for Kadooment Monday and see for yourself.
Damian Hinkson: Our black women would be fat if you measure them using another race of women as the standard. These people will also tell you that our women have ugly behinds.
Darien Kellman: What about the obese Americans? They can’t even compare us to the world in some sort because of our size of our population.
Clyde Francois: Bunch of nonsense.
Lana Headley-Robinson: And by who(se) or what standards or measures are they using?
Karen Browne: These are harsh words, but once we get over the hurt of the name calling, maybe we can focus on overall health. Heart disease and diabetes are real. They don’t care how sexy we look; they kill!
Andria HaveAgoodheart P: Maybe we need to stop importing the crappy unhealthy foods from abroad; that would help.
Asha Chase: Sad all around. We made the list, which I think is probably quite accurate, the number of fat women who were parading on my TV Kadooment Day. And it isn’t the fat so much, but all of the unhealthy habits that go with it.
Wendy Reid: What’s the best thing that could come out of this? We could take stock of our lives and become healthier. On the flip side, we can quarrel and compare ourselves to every other ‘fat’ nation and just eventually die . . . strong in our argument . . . but dead nonetheless.
Angela Johnson: I agree that Barbados has a very high ratio of overweight women. Poor nutrition is the main cause. Get rid of that macaroni pie; it’s not Bajan food.
Donna Payne Chalmers: That’s a bare joke.
