Hold the boliche, comrades

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

The Cuban and U.S. governments may have little in common but the people of both countries do: their waistlines.

A study by two prominent Cuban health institutes found 30% of the island’s men and 31% of its women are overweight, with a quarter of the 11.2 million population trending toward obesity.

Cuban health officials blamed the expanding problem on poor diet, lack of exercise and spending too much time in front of televisions and computers - familiar themes in El Norte.

Results of the study by the Nutrition and Food Safety Institute and the Hygiene and Epidemiology Institute were published by the Juventud Rebelde newspaper, which has been tackling some of Cuba’s most pressing with unprecedented candor in recent months.

Those most susceptible to obesity, the health institutes found, were Cubans in their 50s. The study focused on urban Cubans, who account for 76% of the population, because those in the countryside have a less sedentary lifestyle and better access to affordable produce.

‘We have vegetables and fruits all year, but they are very expensive,’ endocrinologist Malicela Barcelo told the newspaper. Urban farmers markets are among the few venues where suppliers can set their own prices.

Posted by Carol Williams in Miami