Obesity, the other epidemic in the Dominican Republic

The balance suffers year after year. The weight of a sedentary life and an inadequate diet, due to lack of food or high consumption by the least fit, make the Dominican population increasingly fat. In less than 15 years, the country has gone from less than 25% of its people being overweight to more than 70%, according to the latest survey carried out by the Health authorities in 2021, and that, without the rigor of a scientific study, serves as an indicator of the need to act against a problem that is worsening and causes diabetes and hypertension. 

“31% of schoolchildren are overweight. In less than 15 years, the country has gone from less than 25% of people overweight to more than 70%.” With the causes documented in more than one report and much more consequences, even the economic cost of being overweight has been analyzed, the country has to apply measures so that the balance begins to decline.

But the recommended actions have not yet materialized and the Dominican Republic experiencing the failure of the goals set, despite the millionaire burden that being overweight implies for the State. Controlling overweight will require national policies that go beyond training and information. One first step could be to tax sugary drinks in the country.