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HEALTH AND NUTRITION IN THE
CARIBBEAN BY MS. N. LEWIS
ARE YOU GETTING ENOUGH OF ……..
CURRENT TRENDS IN HEALTH AND
NUTRITION IN THE CARIBBEAN


Malnutrition in children and infectious diseases,
once the major public health problems, have
considerably declined and have been replaced by
obesity and chronic noncommunicable diseases
such as diabetes, hypertension, stroke, coronary
heart disease and cancers.
Although very much reduced, the threat of
undernutrition and infectious diseases is still
lurking in the background and may erupt into
epidemic proportions under the fragile economic
systems.
MALNUTRITION
UNDERNUTRITION IN THE CARIBBEAN
Undernourishment
 Under-nutrition is a significant intervening
factor in the levels of morbidity and mortality
in the Caribbean subregion.
 The prevalence of obesity is also rapidly growing
and is considered a potential threat to Caribbean
development in terms of its impact on
productivity, income, health and nutrition.
 Current statistics shows that about 6 million
persons in Latin America and the Caribbean are
undernourished.

Prevalence of
undernourishment in total
population 2000-2002
Country
2.5 % - 4 %
Cuba
5-19%
Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad and
Tobago, Suriname
20- 34%
Dominican Republic
23 %
Haiti

Available data show that the dietary energy
supplies for the Caribbean countries areabove the
minimum standard of 1800 Kcal a day.
However, 6.7 million people in the Caribbean are
undernourished. This accounts for 21 per cent of
the Caribbean population in the year 2000
and 2002 (FAO 2004).
MALNUTRITION AND CHILDREN
Despite the implementation of policies to address
some of these problems and the impacts of
poverty, many people remain hungry and one in
three young children in developing countries still
suffer from under-nutrition. In the Caribbean,
the percentage of LBW ( low birth weight) babies
is 10 per cent.
 Women who are malnourished are also less likely
to be able to successfully breastfeed their
children. In addition, their cognitive ability is
often marred leading to inadequate care for their
young children.

As figure 1.2 below demonstrates, the Dominican
Republic, Guyana, Suriname and,notably, Haiti
and Trinidad and Tobago have relatively high
levels of LBW babies.
 Haiti (21 percent) and Trinidad and Tobago (23
per cent) score even higher than the Sub-Saharan
Africa and the least developed countries, these
having proportions of low birth weights of,
respectively, 14and 18 percent. ( statistics since
2003)
Malnourished children in the Caribbean for
2009
 18.9 % Haiti; Guyana 10.8%; Jamaica 2.2%
3.9 % Cuba; Trinidad 2.2%

OBESITY IN THE CARIBBEAN
Obesity has become an epidemic in the caribbean.
 Currently about 25% of women in the caribbean
are obese with ( BMI > 30), which is twice as
much as their male counterparts.
 Of the many challenges confronting the
Caribbean with respect to obesity are two which
are directly linked to gender,nutrition and
poverty, namely the epidemiological profile of age
and gender and poverty, obesityand food
economics.

CHILD OBESITY
The Caribbean is also faced with the emerging
problem of childhood obesity, which paradoxically
coexists with undernutrition, where increasing
levels of overweight and obesity are linked to
diet-related chronic diseases.
 However, overweight or obese children, like
adults, are at risk for serious health-related
problems such as diabetes, hypertension, liver
disease and respiratory problems, such as
asthma and sleep apnea, as well as muscularskeletal problems with hips and knee joints.

HIV/ AIDS
The statistics show that at the end of 2009, an
estimated 240,000 people were living with HIV in
the Caribbean. Some 17,000 people were newly
infected during 2009, and 12,000 people died
from AIDS.
 In the Bahamas more than 3% of the adult
population is living with HIV. Higher prevalence
rates are found only in sub-Saharan Africa,
making the Caribbean the second-most affected
region in the world. Half of adults living with the
virus are women.

Trends and transmission routes
 Overall, the main route of HIV transmission in
the Caribbean is heterosexual sex, much of which
is associated with commercial sex. Sex between
men is also a major factor in some countries'
epidemics.
 Cultural and behavioural patterns (such as early
initiation of sexual acts, and taboos related to sex
and sexuality), gender inequalities, lack of
confidentiality, stigmatization and economic need
are some of the factors influencing vulnerability
to HIV and AIDS in the Caribbean.

ESTIMATED HIV PREVALENCE AND DEATHS
DUE TO AIDS, END 2009
Country
All people
living with
HIV/ AIDS
Adults 16-45
Death due to
with Hiv/ Aids AIDS
in %
Bahamas
6,600
3.1
<500
Barbados
2,100
1.4
<100
Cuba
7,100
0.1
<100
Dominican
Republic
57,000
0.9
2,300
Haiti
120,000
Jamaica
32,000
Trinidad and
Tobago
15,000
1.9
1.7
1.5
7,100
1,200
<1,000
ANTI RETROVIRAL DRUGS
Countries in this region are making efforts to
slow the epidemic and to limit its impact, most
obviously through their efforts to provide
antiretroviral drugs. In 2002, the Pan Caribbean
Partnership against HIV/AIDS signed an
agreement with six pharmaceutical companies to
provide access to cheaper antiretroviral drugs.
Progress since then has been uneven, partly due
to wide differences in drug prices.
 Access to antiretroviral therapy is provided to
almost all those in need in Cuba. However in the
Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Haiti, HIV
treatment coverage reaches less than half those
in need, at 47%, 46% and 43% respectively.

DIABETES

It is estimated that diabetes affects 10-20% of
adults. The International Diabetes Institute
estimated that there were over one million cases
of diabetes in the Caribbean since 1994( 105,000
type 1 and 913,000 type 11)