Obesity in Chile
Being from the US, I’m very familiar with the obesity epidemic and the fact that more and more people are getting fatter and fatter. Being from an upper middle class area of the Bay Area and having spent my college years in between Bel Air and Beverly Hills at UCLA, I personally haven’t see the frightening statistics come to life because both of those areas are pretty health and appearance conscious. However, that doesn’t mean that the US – and the world – as a whole doesn’t have an ever expanding waistline.
I’ve had visitors to Chile comment on how there aren’t many fat people here, and I always remind them it’s all relative. There aren’t as many morbidly obese people here, but there are many many people who’re a little more redondito than is healthy. And when the average height is about 5’8″ for men, it doesn’t take too many extra pounds to put you over the edge.
I saw this graphic from The Economist the other day and wanted to share.
See that? Yes, that would be Chile in 6th place.
Honestly, I’m not surprised. Diabetes is an extremely common problem here, but most people’s response is to replace sugar with artificial sweeteners rather than to cut back on the sweets altogether. I have also seen far too many children sucking down a bottle of soda or eating cookies for breakfast. I think there’s a huge lack of education in terms of proper nutrition, especially for kids considering the number of parents I see – many of them perfectly intelligent people usually – offering their toddlers nectar. Nectar, while it may look like juice, is closer to fruit-flavored syrup than fresh-squeezed OJ. Would you give your two year old a big glass of syrup every time she was thirsty?
Of course it’s not just sweets – it’s the ridiculous excess of salt (a recent news program put the average Chilean’s daily sodium intake at 10,000-11,000 mgs a day, 5-5.5 times the recommended maximum), lack of exercise and a genetic predisposition to the stockier build of the indigenous Mapuches, with whom pretty much every Chilean shares an ancestor or two. Up til now, Chileans have probably been saved to a certain extent by the relative lack of processed foods in their diet, but as grocery stores stock more and more convenience items (and gringos like me rejoice at finding the products we’re used to from back home) and the economy continues to improve, increasing disposable income, Chileans appear to be in for more than just economic growth.
Chile surpassed the U.S. in childhood obesity rates a while back. I wrote about it and said pretty much all the same things as you: http://www.kylehepp.com/2008/08/childhood-obesity-in-chile-exceeds-us-rates/
So it's not shocking to see that the overall obesity rate is climbing. Just sad.
Very interesting. Since I've been wandering around Chile for the last few months observing people and their eating habits, I've actually been wondering a lot about how Chile compares. The US needs to get a handle on the portion control, and Chile needs to start making more healthy "fast food" options with all of the wonderful healthy resources that they have here!
YES YES YES about the nectar…it's really bad…i for one always seem to BECOME morbidly obese in Chile…not sure what it is but there's a direct correlation between my waist line and Chile…i think part of it might also the long ass Sunday lunches (and sometimes Saturday too) AND the 10 trillion asados over the summer. Those are cultural things that need to be tweaked (i.e. swap the summer eating of choripans 4 times per week for grilled chicken/veggies). Pisco+wine+lots of bread+ salt in EVERYTHING = fat. I'd also say that at least among the Chileans I know- who are of more or less a similar social class as the gringos i know in the US- there is WAY less emphasize on sports and working out. I feel like all the women i know in the US go to the gym regularly or run or bike or SOMETHING – same w/the gringas in Chile – BUT i know WAY FEWER Chilean women (in particular) who work out regularly. Seems that the weightloss habit of choice for the upper class is to starve and smoke. Healthy!
Kyle, thanks for that link – I know Chile's got a serious child obesity problem but was too lazy to find actual support for that statement, so thanks for doing it for me
Heather, glad to help.
KM, I know we've talked before about how for many women here lunch is a coffee or diet Coke and some cigarettes. You may not get fat on that diet, but it definitely doesn't mean you're healthy.
I agree with KM on the LONNGG sunday lunches. P and I eat super healthy when we´re here in Santiago, but then we go to his family´s house for the weekend and it all falls apart between the asados, copete, and enemy #1 — PAN!
Everytime I visit my family in Chile is like I'm ordering some excotic drink when I ask for water! At restaurants, or at the kioks, if I asked for agua I would get agua mineral. So I learned to ask for agua sin gas….I'm sure adding more water in their diets would be a good start.
The problem isn't that people are eating more volumewise. It's that the processing of the stuff packs in the fats and sugars. Further there are more enhancers in the food from the processing than there are in fags. They give fake signals to the stomach about how full one is. And of course you have the situation where the processing is breaking down the food for you even before you eat it. Put simply it's a bit more work to chomp you way through one of those BBQ steaks than something mickyD has minced.
So, I hold it's not enough to say "eat less, Move more". These days you need to be much more careful than that for most of us are eating for a V8 while doing the work of a Mini.
I LOVE sugar and salt, fortunately im thin but if i wasnt i think i still wouldnt care.
Life is too short.
Pedro
Totally agree! We moved here two months ago, and at a recent play-date the other mother doled out a cavalcade of sweets for the three-year-olds. It started with ice cream, then chocolate cookies, Chocopic cereal, and Coke in the sippy cups! Also, can't believe the amount of ice cream shops! However, you don't see as many morbidly obese people here as in the states.
Hi Lana. This is just the subject that's been on my mind lately, and I'm not at all surprised at Chile's ranking on that chart. The first thing I noticed on my return here to live in Santiago this year was that virtually every man over about 35 has extra kilos sitting on his waistline. I believe you're correct in your analysis of the causes.
I would imagine also that it doesn't help much that lunch is the main meal of the day, and the evening meal (as you know)is universally the "once", which is almost always made up of only bread, butter, cheese, preserved meats and mashed avocado. I try to sneak fruit into mine, while we're still living with family. We'll revert to the Australian/American opposite routine for sure, when we move into our own apartment, and no one is visiting us in the evening.
I must say though that "Once" is very practical for the Chilean way of life, where family and friends can just drop in at that time of day, and it's never a problem to add another person round the table for lack of a main course. But the problem is all that carbohydrate and fat, of course. I love it here, though!
Carolina, totally know what you mean on the water. Going back to the US and being served free ice water everywhere is no nice!
Vince, quality is just as important as quantity in food, I agree.
Andrew, great comment – except my name's Emily. Been reading too many gringa blogs?
Um and the fact that you crazy South Americans eat dinner so freaking late!!!