Third of all Bajan women obese – professor

(Barbados Nation) A third of all women in Barbados are obese and three-fifths are overweight, while one man in ten is obese and one-third are overweight.

These are some statistics Professor Trevor Hassell revealed to the SATURDAY SUN yesterday when he addressed the issue of chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) on his return from the United Nations High Level Meeting on the topic.

Hassell said 54 000 Barbadians suffered from hypertension or high blood pressure – that is, one-fifth of the population.

“For goodness sake, we are a population of 280 000, and 54 000 of them have got high blood pressure. By the time you get to 65 years and over, two-thirds, meaning two out of every three persons, will have high blood pressure,” he said.