“5 a Day” to Fight $100 Million Obesity Costs
Today, the Ministry of Health launches the “5 a day” campaign that consists of pushing the Panamanian population to incorporate at least five portions of fruits and vegetables into daily diets.
National Secretariat for the Alimentation and Nutrition Plan statistics show that 33.6 percent of Panamanian adults are overweight and 18.3 percent are obese, or nearly half of the population over 20 years of age.
According to Rena Road, Director of Services Provisions of the Ministry of Health, 480,000 Panamanians are affected by arterial hypertension, which represents just $44 million in consultation fees. The Ministry estimates that the total cost of obesity is $100 million a year, La Prensa reports.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention defines an overweight adult as having a Body Mass Index between 25 and 29.9, and 30 or higher as obese. Obesity can lead to coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancers, hypertension, dyslipidemia, stroke, liver and gallbladder disease, sleep apnea and respiratory problems, osteoarthritis and gynecological problems.
It might prove more productive to equip each home with a stationary bike set-up that has to be ridden in order to power the television.
UPDATE: A 2008 survey shows that 31 percent of Panamanian children are overweight and of these, nine percent are obese when they begin school. Ninety-five metropolitan schools are participating in the “5 a day” program.
[...] Representative Sergio Galvez will present a bill that would have the state cover the stomach reduction operation expenses for obese Panamanians. [...]