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* Study Germany's and Taiwan's Success to Form a Reopening Strategy4
http://www.hsvg.org/ Guahan Global Foundation
Guahan Global Foundation P.O. Box 206, Hagatna, GU 96932, USA
(February 13, 2026) Guam’s obesity prevalence is over 40% The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released the nation’s latest Adult Obesity Prevalence Maps. Guam’s adult obesity prevalence is over 40% on the map. There are only 3 states or territories with 40% or higher adult obesity rates. The CDC has released the map every year since 2012. When the CDC released 2023 Adult Obesity Prevalence Maps for 48 states, the District of Columbia, and 3 territories in September 2024, Guam’s adult obesity rate has been above 35% for the first time. On the 2024 map released in December 2025, Guam’s adult obesity prevalence is 40.2%. On the 2023 map, Michigan, Puerto Rico, and Mississippi’s adult obesity rates were 35.4%, 36%, and 40.1%, respectively. Although their 2024 numbers also went up, Michigan’s rate for 2024 is 36.1%, Puerto Rico is 36.2%, and Mississippi is 40.4% while Guam’s adult obesity rate jumps significantly from 2023’s 35.4% to 2024’s 40.2%. Hawaii’s adult obesity prevalence has also kept increasing year by year, but its 2022 number was 25.9%, 2023 was 26.1%, and the latest 2024 is only 27%. Some states with a high obesity rate actually reversed the trend. Alaska’s number on the 2023 map was 35.2% and drops to 34% on the 2024 one. New Mexico’s rate drops to 34.5% on the 2024 map from 2023’s 35.3%. Also, in Missouri, 2023’s 35.3% drops to 2024’s 34.6%. In Illinois, 2023’s 36% drops to 2024’s 34.2%. So, it is possible to reverse the population’s obesity trend. Guam needs to encourage more people in the community to watch their body weight. The increasing prevalence of obesity is highly associated with the risk for developing diabetes, which is another Guam’s prevalent health issue. In addition, the American Heart Association (AHA) warns that the rate of deaths from ischemic heart disease related to obesity nearly tripled in the U.S. over a two-decade span. The AHA explains that ischemic heart disease occurs when narrowed arteries reduce the flow of blood and oxygen to the heart muscle. This can lead to a heart attack. Obesity is a serious risk factor for ischemic heart disease, and this risk is going up at an alarming rate along with the increasing prevalence of obesity. While the AHA is commemorating American Heart Month now in February, they also remind that body weight is a powerful signal of how the body’s most important systems are working together. Maintaining a healthy body weight supports the cardiovascular system, kidney and metabolim,  which is the way the body creates, stores and uses energy. When body weight is within a healthier range, the body manages blood sugar more easily, the heart works better, and the kidneys filter more effectively. Together, this is called cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) health. It happened that the Federal government released the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2025-2030 last month. According to its press release, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is confident that the new guidance will dramatically lower chronic disease for Americans. For example, the U.S. faces the highest obesity and type 2 diabetes rates in the developed world. One-third of teens in the U.S. suffer from pre-diabetes. 20% of children and adolescents have obesity, and 18.5% of young adults have nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. The HHS’ press release emphasized the new dietary guidelines are evangelizing real food. “The guidance provides possibilities across all recommendations. For example, in proteins, options such as chicken, pork, beans, and legumes; a larger variety of dairy products, at all price points, including whole milk and full-fat dairy products; fresh, frozen, dried, and canned fruits and vegetables, from beets to strawberries, carrots to apples; and whole grains. Paired with a reduction in highly processed foods laden with refined carbohydrates, added sugars, excess sodium, unhealthy fats, and chemical additives.” HHS said. Our foundation welcomes the new dietary guidelines highlighting real food and prioritizing whole grains, healthy fats, high-quality protein, and all kinds of fruits and vegetables. We also commend the emphasis on avoiding highly processed foods and added sugar. We look forward to seeing the new dietary guidelines and the related policies really promote people’s healthier eating and provide school children, senior citizens, military members and our veterans with healthier meals to subsequently help reduce the prevalence of obesity and chronic disease. Speaking of promoting a real food framework in Guam, our island community obviously must work harder to secure the stability of the imported fresh food’s shipment as well as the locally produced food’s supply to help people's access to real food. That is why our foundation appreciates the hard work of the Port authority of Guam, the shipping companies, and all related organizations. We also admire the continuous efforts made by many local organizations to strengthen our island’s food resiliency. We therefore want to remind our island community that Guahan Sustainable Culture is trying the pilot “Southside Sunday Farmer’s Market” every Sunday morning in February at its Food Resiliency Hub in the village of Yona. We encourage community members to make time for the farmer’s market, enjoy the beautiful Sunday surrounded by natural beauties in the south of the island, and purchase food from local farmers and producers as much as possible. In addition to food and diet, body weight is affected by many other factors, including genetics, hormones, environment, medications, and stress. Willpower alone does not drive weight-loss outcomes. People with obesity should understand that learning the science behind weight management from professionals is important. Every small improvement can bring meaningful benefits. Steady lifestyle changes will help long-term well-being. http://www.hsvg.org/hot_530574.html * Guam’s obesity prevalence is over 40% 2026-02-13 2027-02-13
Guahan Global Foundation P.O. Box 206, Hagatna, GU 96932, USA http://www.hsvg.org/hot_530574.html
Guahan Global Foundation P.O. Box 206, Hagatna, GU 96932, USA http://www.hsvg.org/hot_530574.html
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Home ﹥ News > News > * Study Germany's and Taiwan's Success to Form a Reopening Strategy

(April 22, 2020)

Study Germany’s and Taiwan’s Success to Form a Reopening Strategy

Why does Germany close dining and entertainment businesses only while France, Italy and Spain enforce nationwide lockdowns? Why are people in Taipei keeping daily life while Singapore closes schools and businesses and asks citizens to stay home till June 1?



The most important lesson we should learn from Germany is to stop being worried about the number of confirmed cases. Due to the coronavirus’ highly contagious nature and the country’s massive testing policy, Germany is certainly finding a lot of COVID-19 cases. The focus therefore ought to be mild cases’ quarantine and severe cases’ medical treatment. Germany did it right, so their domestic patients got well treated and they have been taking care of patients flown in from other European Union member countries.



While many countries have been calling for flattening the epidemic curve, as of April 13, Taiwan, with a population of 23 million citizens, reported 6 deaths from COVID-19 and only 273 patients who are still hospitalized. Taiwanese have been promptly wearing a mask since the middle of January even though many experts did not agree it could help at that time. Taiwanese government also coordinated mask manufacturers to increase productivity to meet people’s demands of purchasing masks. In contrast, most of western countries did not add wearing a mask into COVID-19 control guidelines until April.



It definitely makes a lot of sense that the governors who want to lift the restrictions do their researches on the experiences of those countries that have never place any restriction order during the pandemic to form a relevant and sustainable exit strategy. We are glad to see Mr. Governor Gavin Newsom tweeted California’s “flatten the curve” graph on April 11, which showed California has used “hospitalization rate” to replace “infection rate”, or confirmed cases, to monitor the epidemic curve. We would like to acknowledge California for its action of bringing COVID-19 control to a right track and to carefully thinking of its reopening plan.



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We also want to remind that it is better to still suggest the elderly should spent most of time at home during the early stage of the reopening. People with underlying medical conditions, who have a relatively higher risk of developing severe illness once contracting the virus, should be told to thoroughly practice good hygiene and to pay more attention to having their chronic diseases under control.



Data showed more than 22 million Americans have filed for unemployment since state-mandated lockdowns have been enforced. The spike in new jobless claims is believed to result from the lockdowns that have kept Americans from their workplaces and forced many companies to shutter or to lay off employees. With wearing a mask in public as a careful precaution measure, healthy young and middle-aged adults should be allowed to resume daily routines as soon as possible to avoid households’ miserable financial consequences of workplace shutdown. Probably it’s time for some states to ease lockdowns or any other similar restrictions with a carefully-formed exit strategy.


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