Obesity and type 2 diabetes
OBESITY INCREASES the risk of type 2 diabetes and many other non-communicable diseases, such as hypertension (high blood pressure), high cholesterol and some types of cancer. Research has shown that maintaining a healthy weight is one means of reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes. In fact, even among people with pre-diabetes (blood sugars that are no longer in the normal range, but not high enough for diabetes), a five per cent weight loss can reduce the risk of going on to develop type 2 diabetes by 50 per cent.
The body mass index (BMI) is one means of telling if you are obese and is calculated using your height and weight. For adults, a value of less than 25 is normal, 25 to 29 means you are overweight, and 30 or higher means you are obese. Because children are growing there is no fixed normal value for their BMI. To know if a child under 18 years old is overweight or obese, his/her BMI measurement should be plotted on a chart that compares his/her result with the BMI of other children of similar age and sex. Several research studies are being conducted to understand what causes obesity and how it can be treated or prevented. While our genes play a role, many of the habits that can increase the risk of obesity are learned early in life and reinforced by our home, school and work environments and the communities in which we live. Changes to these settings are a critical part of tackling this epidemic.
The Ministry of Health and Wellness has been encouraging Jamaicans to be more physically active and make better meal choices through the Jamaica Moves campaign. They have also partnered with the Ministry of Education to limit the sale of sugary drinks in schools, and already several manufacturers have started producing healthier versions of their products.
We need to encourage and support other efforts that can also make our schools and communities healthier. These include scheduled breaks for play/exercise during the school day, safe and appropriate spaces for recreation, adequate access to healthy foods and limiting advertisement of unhealthy foods (particularly to children).
Within our homes we can promote less TV watching (none before 18 months and less than one hour in children under 5 years), media free times (meals, bedtime) and zones (bedrooms), adequate rest for all members of the family (10 hours sleep for children and eight hours for teens and adults), drinking water instead of sweetened drinks, eating more whole fruits instead of juices, having vegetables with our meals and limiting intake of sweets, pastries, processed and fatty (oily) foods.
At your next visit, please have your healthcare provider check your BMI to know your weight status, and ask about safe and reliable resources to help maintain a healthy weight or lose weight if already overweight or obese.
Let us do our part to stop type 2 diabetes. MARSHALLTULLOCH-REID Professor of Epidemiology and Endocrinology, Caribbean Institute for Health Research, The University of the West Indies