Doctor Miguel Mayo: “Parents are responsible for the obesity of our children”

Overweight and obesity are conditions of high incidence in our country, which predispose the population to serious diseases.

The former Minister of Health, Miguel Mayo, addressed this problem, stating that obesity really is the most important health problem there is, and we certainly do not give it the weight it has in the face of disease. “Parents are responsible for the obesity of our children.”

He revealed that between 2016 and 2019 a health census was carried out looking for the four most important diseases that carry the weight of health spending in Panama, and these are: diabetes, obesity, cancer and high blood pressure.

“We took a census of more than a million people over 40 years of age and 44%, that is, almost half of the population over 40 years of age, is overweight,” he said.

The doctor explained that the majority of people who die prematurely in our country die from one of these four diseases.