Over 40% adult Guyanese overweight/obese – FAO Country Rep

Guyana and the rest of the Caribbean region have made immense progress in reducing absolute hunger; however, they are now being faced with another dangerous situation: overweightness and obesity, according to Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) Country Representative, Dr Gillian Smith.

She was at the time addressing a gathering to commemorate World Food Day at La Bonne Intention (LBI), East Coast Demerara.
Dr Smith lauded Guyana for its food security but underscored the fact that hunger is still a real issue for a number of people. She revealed that over 40 per cent of Guyanese are either overweight or obese and of that number, the majority are women.
“Data is suggesting that over 40 per cent of adults in Guyana are considered overweight or obese and this is a trend that is increasing and significantly more women are found to be obese than men. Not only is this robbing us of our productive years, it is costing us significant amounts of our public health resources,” Dr Smith noted.

She further explained that a 2011 cost of illness assessment, done by the Public Health Ministry in collaboration with the PAHO/WHO, estimated that the direct and indirect cost of treating non-communicable disease in Guyana was over 10 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This, she notes, threatens to erode the human capital.
“Most of us have been lucky enough to live in a country, community, family where good food security is the case. I know from time to time many of us have struggled with some aspect of food security…despite all of that, we are the lucky ones. Every day, every single night, more than 820 million people suffer from hunger. Mothers put their children to bed knowing that they have not fed them what they need, and not having a single idea of how they are going to feed them tomorrow morning,” she said.

World Food Day is observed annually on October 16. The day marks the anniversary of the formation of the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation.
World Food Day, which is dubbed as a day of action dedicated to tackling global hunger, sees people from around the world coming together to declare their commitment to eradicate worldwide hunger from our lifetime. This year, World Food Day is being observed under the theme:”Our actions are our future—healthy diets for a #zerohunger world”.
The theme calls on all stakeholders to make a change. To answer this call, the Ministry of Agriculture in collaboration with the local chapter of the Food and Agriculture Organisation hosted a massive food exhibition at the GuySuCo Headquarters, La Bonne Intention, East Coast Demerara.
At the opening ceremony, Agriculture Minster Noel Holder told the gathering that the event is Government’s way of reinforcing its commitment to safe food and healthy diets. He added that while Guyana is a food secure nation, more needs to be done to cement its status.
“There are pockets of food insecurity and hunger that we need to address. Additionally, given the significant amount spent annually on health problems related to malnutrition. Strategies to ensure the availability and affordability of healthy diets are essential for the food and nutrition security of our citizens,” the Minister indicated.
Holder also used the opportunity to announce that GuySuCo’s LBI compound has been transformed into an agricultural complex, which no sees a number of agricultural agencies being housed there as an effort to provide more efficient services.
“During this month, the former GuySuCo Soil and Bio Safety Laboratory will transition into our National Soil Testing and Bio Safety Laboratory serving the entire agriculture sector in Guyana. As we transition to a green economy, quality infrastructure, such as laboratories that will test for disease, water quality and the general quality of safe and wholesome products intended for export are essential. Additionally, for increased productivity, laboratories are needed for soil testing, biotechnology, tissue culture, plant breeding and are also the backbone of the inspection and certification activates to meet these international standards,” Holder informed.
The event saw the participation of the various bodies under the Agriculture Ministry, as well as a number of schools. The schools were given the task to prepare a balanced meal that cost no less than $2000 and what some of them prepared are presented in the photos.