By: Bernadette H. Carreon
Horizon news staff

AN interesting bit of news came out in our newspaper last week Forbes has listed several Pacific Island countries with the greatest percentage of overweight people.
Palau makes it to the top 10 of the world’s fattest country list at no.8.
Palau does have problems with obesity, hypertension and diabetes which could be attributed to an unhealthy lifestyle.
Western influence and consumption of food with high salt and fat content also contribute to an unhealthy diet.
The news article said that urbanization is a big factor to the increase in the obesity rate, with Palau as highly dependent on imported goods, basic food of traditional diet are forgotten.
The report said that Nauru tops the list with an alarming 94.5 percent of its adult population (ages 15+).the statistic was based on the most recent estimates by the World Health Organization (WHO). "The Federated States of Micronesia, Cook Islands, Tonga and Niue round out the top five, all with a portly population of over 90 percent Samoa at number 7, Palau at no.8, Kiribati at no. 10 , Vanuatu no.47, Tuvalu 55, Fiji 68, Marshall Islands 105, Solomon Islands 115 and Papua New Guinea 145," the article said.
Palau however is slowly moving into the healthy lifestyle, every afternoon, the Palau National Track and Field is filled with runners, soccer players and badminton players who wanted to do some form of exercise.
The Airai Tennis courts and Ngerbeched tennis courts are also occupied every evening until nighttime with tennis enthusiasts.
Every weekend sport activities are lined up, a sign that the country pays attention to its health.
Exercise helps to reverse obesity, obesity leads to many health complications that keeping a healthy weight will allow you to live longer.
The Ministry of Health has also been promoting healthy food choices for the citizens by avoiding foods with high fat and high sugar especially canned goods.
The next time a list of the world fattest country is published; Palau should have been out of the top 10.

Economic direction

With the National Economic Symposium over, this should help the country find its economic direction.
International experts have provided their insights and suggestions to assist the country determine its economic future.
With all that have been said and done, all talks from the local officials about cooperation and improvement of the country’s economy should not be pushed aside or relegated to "rhetorics".
The Compact Review Commission is now ready to get down to business and start its work.
CRC Chairman Kuniwo Nakamura said that the commission will not let all the presentations both from the local and international experts go to waste.