Economic Collapse Made for Healthy Cubans

 

When the Soviet Union collapsed, the subsidies sent to Cuba stopped and severe food and fuel shortages resulted from 1989 – 2000. Cubans literally tightened their belts and scrambled to survive. Daily per capita energy intake tumbled from 2,899 to 1,863 calories.

There was, however, a significant upside to the hard times. In addition to the decrease in caloric intake, vehicle use decreased, and walking and biking became commonplace. As a result, obesity dropped significantly (from 14.3% in 1991 to 7.2% in 1995 in Cienfuegos) as did obesity-related illnesses such as diabetes (down 51%), coronary heart disease (down 35%), and stroke (down 20%).

 

From the Guardian:

"This is the first, and probably the only, natural experiment, born of unfortunate circumstances, where large effects on diabetes, cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality have been related to sustained population-wide weight loss as a result of increased physical activity and reduced caloric intake," said Manuel Franco, of Johns Hopkins.

None of this is to say hardships are a good thing, or that these awful times were glory days. It does point out some traits of human nature towards laziness and overindulgence. It has a similar ring to the Westernization of the Asian diet. The traditional Asian diet, with an abundance of plant foods and grains and minimal fats, meats, and dairy, combined with an active lifestyle, led to an incredibly healthy population. Once that moderation was compromised and a meat-centric and often fast food-influenced diet took hold, the health of many Asian countries spiraled to resemble the US and other Western countries.

Via Treehugger

Photo via Flickr by Bagheia