KINGSTON, Jamaica \u2014 From poor exercise habits to stress to personal comfort, Jamaicans have offered varying opinions on why obesity affects local women at significantly higher rates than men.<\/p>\n
According to the World Obesity Federation, Jamaica has one of the widest gender gaps in obesity prevalence. The federation\u2019s latest country data indicate that more than 41 per cent of Jamaican women are classified as obese, compared with just under 15 per cent of men based on the most recent national survey.<\/p>\n
While some Jamaicans on social media, in response to the alarming gender gap, suggested preference of local men for curvier women greatly contribute to obesity among females, respondents to an\u00a0Observer Online\u00a0vox pop argued that the issue is far more complex.<\/p>\n
One man said the root of the problem lies in a lack of physical activity rather than beauty standards.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe it is a case where Jamaicans do not normalise exercising. So like getting up in the morning, running, walking\u2026. I believe it is a case where Jamaica doesn\u2019t normalise exercising at all. It doesn\u2019t have anything to do with men liking curvy women or anything like that because you can be curvy and still not obese,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Another respondent attributed the statistic to complacency among Jamaican women.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like [women] just feel comfortable with themselves while males now want to go to the gym and work out. Women just eat what they feel like\u2026not necessarily every woman\u2026but women always just want to be comfortable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
One female said some women embrace their body type, while others simply consume more calories than they burn.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of the women probably like being fat and they love the thickness while some just overeat and don\u2019t like to exercise and stuff like that. It is not every man that likes a curvy woman because every man has a choice,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She also noted that she is personally comfortable with her own weight.<\/p>\n
Another man pointed to stress and dietary habits as possible contributors.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of them have probably too much stress, probably they are going through some form of pressure\u2026 and some of them love too much food\u2026 I think the sweets as well can make you really blow up\u2026 They love them ice cream and cake and you know those things are going to bring forth obesity.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, another woman argued that weight is influenced by a range of biological and socioeconomic factors, not simply lifestyle choices.<\/p>\n
She noted that some people are naturally larger while others remain slim regardless of how much they eat. She also pointed to pregnancy, childcare responsibilities and financial constraints as reasons some women struggle to lose weight or maintain healthier diets.<\/p>\n
\u201cWomen get fat too when they get pregnant\u2026 they have so much things to do\u2026 they don\u2019t find time for themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
A young man echoed the view that personal choice plays a larger role than male preference.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause them cook nuff and them eat nuff. Although some Jamaican men would prefer curvy women, I don\u2019t think that necessarily plays a part into whether or not they lose the weight or gain weight because at the end of the day that is their personal choice.\u201d<\/p>\n
He acknowledged that compliments from partners may reinforce body confidence but doubted it was the main reason behind the disparity.<\/p>\n
\u201cPerhaps because a man say she have little curves she say him like me like this so I am comfortable like this and I will stay like this, but I don\u2019t think it plays an overarching role\u2026 I think it is just a standard of comfortability that they retain.\u201d<\/p>\n
Health experts have consistently cautioned that obesity is a complex condition influenced by a combination of genetics, diet, physical activity, socioeconomic circumstances, environmental factors and underlying medical conditions. The World Obesity Federation says tackling obesity requires evidence-based public health interventions rather than focusing on individual behaviour alone.<\/p>\n
(Video: Llewellyn Wynter)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KINGSTON, Jamaica \u2014 From poor exercise habits to stress to personal comfort, Jamaicans have offered varying opinions on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":792558,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[337,97],"class_list":["post-792557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-fitness","tag-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=792557"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/792557\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/792558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=792557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=792557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=792557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}