Professor Rachel T. Leon Guerrero said in 2003, over 41 percent of adults in Guam weighed normal, 36.2 percent were overweight and the remaining 21.9 percent were obese.
These rates are higher compared to the U.S.
Leon Guerrero said the rates of obesity and chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and cancer, continue to increase in the U.S. and other Western countries.
She surveyed adults from the two largest ethnic populations on Guam by comparing the dietary intakes of Chamorro and Filipino adults and assessed the relationship between energy density and weight status.
Guam’s current population is made up of 42.1 percent Chamorros; 33.3 percent Filipinos; 6.8 percent Caucasians; 6.2 percent Asians; and 7.6 percent other Pacific Islanders.
Patrick S. Luces, program coordinator for Guam Diabetes Prevention and Control Program at the Bureau of Professional Support Services, Division of Public Health Department of Public Health, & Social Services, said they are currently preparing an overall plan to implement in collaboration with the island’s stakeholders.
He said experts will provide different assessment techniques to further study the patterns of the noncommunicable diseases on Guam.
“Our department currently received a grant, so we have been able to hire a consultant, Angie Mummert, to address the island’s growing behavioral risk factors, which are based on four focus groups,” he said.
The “silent killers” or “NCD’s” are attributed to smoking, nutrition, alcohol, physical and obesity or SNAPO.
In her study, Leon Guerrero described the diet of early Chamorros, or natives of Guam and the Northern Marianas as “predominantly plant based and included taro, yams, breadfruit, bananas, cassava, coconut, and fish.”
After World War II, their diet shifted to imported rice and highly processed canned goods, such as Spam, corned beef, and Vienna sausage, the study said.
