Tonga: the world’s fattest nation [1]
Friday, May 30, 2014 - 20:38. Updated on Friday, May 30, 2014 - 20:41.
Tonga is the world’s most overweight country, according to a study published yesterday by a well-known medical journal, The Lancet.
It states that 88.3% of Tongan women and 83.5% of Tongan men over the age of 20 are overweight. The study measured rates across 188 countries. Five of the ten most overweight countries recorded were Pacific Island countries (Tonga, Samoa, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, and Federated States of Micronesia).
Samoa came second best to Tonga. The report stated that 85% of Samoan men and 83% of Samoan women over the age of 20 were overweight. Kiribati was third heaviest country, with 81.8% of Kiribati women and 76.5% of Kiribati men over the age of 20 overweight.
The study also stated that 52.6% of Tongan girls and 34.5% of Tongan boys under the age of 20 are overweight. An interesting fact was that Tongan boys were much lighter compared to Samoan boys (42%) and I-Kiribati boys (47.7%).
A notable exclusion to the study was Nauru, a country, which has been dubbed the world’s fattest country in the past.
Tonga has been struggling with obesity for the last decade, and it is not the first time that Tonga has been recorded among the world’s most overweight nations.
These findings may come as a surprise to many as for the last year there have been large and genuine efforts to curb obesity in Tonga. These include advertising campaigns, a rise in mass aerobic sessions, body building competitions as well as organised netball tournaments for women.
However, irregular exercise and an irresistible addiction to unhealthy food continues to be a mental challenge for the overweight Tongan.
Global health challenge
The Lancet report pointed out that because of the established health risks and substantial increases in prevalence, obesity has become a major global health challenge. “Not only is obesity increasing, but no national success stories have been reported in the past 33 years. Urgent global action and leadership is needed to help countries to more effectively intervene.”
The study ‘Global, regional, and national prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adults during 1980-2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013’ looked at the alarming trend worldwide.
“Our analysis has drawn attention to countries where most adult women and more than a third of adult men are obese. No countries had significant decreases in obesity in the past 33 years. This raises the question as to whether many or most countries are on a trajectory to reach the high rates of obesity seen in countries such as Tonga or Kuwait,” stated the report.
The rising prevalence of overweight and obesity in several countries has been described as a global pandemic In 2010, overweight and obesity were estimated to cause 3·4 million deaths.
The research was supported by funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.