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July 2014
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Obesity research existsBy VANEISA BAKSH The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) held its 59th health research conference in Aruba at the beginning of May 2014. On the eve of the conference, CARICOM Chief Medical Officers came together to discuss public health issues and concerns, such as Chikungunya. There were also updates on the status of childhood obesity prevention policies and programmes in the region. According to CARPHA’s website, the conference was “a feast” ofover 130 papers with four oral sessionscovering NCDs (non-communicable diseases), as well as sessions onfamily health, infectious diseases, HIV,health systems strengthening,environmental health and nutrition.Participants came from 18 countries and included research scientists, policy makers,healthcare providers and students. The website informs that, “Discourses were on cancer surveillance; the economic benefit of NCDs intervention; the Sick-kids Caribbean initiative, which provides treatment opportunities for Caribbean children with cancers; preventable maternal death in the Caribbean; and the development of innovative approaches to the management of mental disorders.” Figures can really tell a story It is something to note that this was the 59th research conference for CARPHA, and that in this one alone, 130 papers were presented. If that has happened on a similar scale for every gathering, then more than 7,500 research papers have been presented – at this one forum alone. It is a lot. But just as it says something about the volume of research that is being done, it says precious little about where that research goes and how it is being applied. Professor Lexley Pinto Pereira (now Emerita Professor at The UWI) has been part of a team with Professors Surujpal Teelucksingh and Terence Seemungal doing all manner of research into medical conditions as diverse as metabolic disease and lung function with obesity as a cardinal finding, and uncovering associations. Following their earlier reports on the typical skin hyperpigmentation (acanthosisnigricans) as a herald of future diabetes, the team presented papers at the conference directly linked to obesity like these two: “Acanthosisnigricans is associated with higher waist circumference and body mass index in adolescent children in Trinidad” – researchers, S. Pooransingh, F. Lutchmansingh, L. Pinto Pereira, T. Seemungal, S. Nayak and S. Teelucksingh; and “Comparisons of body shape perceptions with measures of body mass among adolescents in Trinidad” – researchers: F. Lutchmansingh, S. Nayak, S. Pooransingh, L. Pinto Pereira, T. Seemungal, and S. Teelucksingh. Researchers at The UWI have done several studies linked to the metabolic syndrome, diabetes, obesity, lung function—on my desk a small pile of papers from Prof Pinto Pereira had five papers each on the subjects, and this was just research she and her colleagues had been directly involved in. The point is that, as with everything else, the research has to be applied for it to be meaningful, and often resources are lacking for proper implementation. On the subject of childhood obesity, proposals at the CARPHA conference included using school-feeding programmes to change eating habits; preparing new legislation, protecting children from “obesogenic” environments and including youth in programme design and development. But they had to concede that after reviewing Member State programmes they could not properly evaluate them because they were either too short to be effective or had no proper measuring devices. |
