Home
1
News
2
News
3
* Chronic Care Key for COVID Mitigation4
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
https://schema.org/EventMovedOnline https://schema.org/OfflineEventAttendanceMode
2026-02-13 http://schema.org/InStock TWD 0 http://www.hsvg.org/hot_530574.html

Home ﹥ News > News > * Chronic Care Key for COVID Mitigation

（October 7, 2021)

Chronic Care Key for COVID Mitigation

If the most important goal of COVID response is to save lives, it seems the key for COVID mitigation should be extra care for people with underlying medical conditions in addition to vaccine rollouts.

 

Many people in our island community have noticed the surge of COVID infections since August. It is actually much more important to look into the COVID death number in September. While vaccines have been rolled out and, as of August 31, 80.43% of Guam residents 12 years and older is fully vaccinated, our island reported a total of 47 COVID deaths in September this year, which was surprisingly higher than the number of 39 reported last September when no vaccine was available at all at that time.

 

COVID deaths, Sep. 2020 vs Sep. 2021

Sep. 2020

 

vs

Sep. 2021

39 deaths

47 deaths

32 Unvaccinated

68%

9 vaccinated

19%

6 Unknown

13%

No Vaccine

available

Vaccines available and

as of Aug. 31, 80.43% of the eligible (12 & over) is fully vaccinated.

 

Not only the case-control clinical trials but also the piling data and experience from the real world have proven the COVID vaccines are promisingly effective in reducing the risk for severe illness and, most importantly, deaths once people get infected. After Guam’s vaccination rate was over 80%, it is reasonable to expect that, at least, we should have seen less fatal tragedies. Many people may wonder if it was the Delta variant of the coronavirus causing the worse situation this September than last September. However, most of scientific evidence show that the Delta variant is definitely more contagious but not more deadly than the original strain, which was dominant last year.

 

In fact, Guam’s September scenario this year provides a preliminary evidence rejecting the so-called “herd immunity” hypothesis, which many experts have been emphasizing after the vaccines became available, suggesting a high, 70 to 80 percent, vaccine coverage would protect the whole population including unvaccinated people. There were as many as 32 unvaccinated individuals died from COVID in September after Guam’s vaccine coverage was beyond 80%. The number told us the COVID vaccine may be not like the one against smallpox, with which the importance of herd immunity was first recognized. It seems more like a flu shot, which is functioning as an individual protection instead of being designed to pursue herd immunity. The unvaccinated people, therefore, are not going to be protected even after more than 80% of the eligible in the community was vaccinated.

 

Given the COVID vaccine seems more like a protection shot for every individual only, getting vaccinated or not could be a matter of personal choice. However, before deciding to stick with your “no COVID vaccine” decision, it is worth to notice that Guam’s 192nd COVID-related fatality was only 53 years old and he did not have any other medical conditions. He was not vaccinated and pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital on September 26.

 

The 185th fatality was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital too. He wasn’t vaccinated either. He was only 56 years old and also did not have underlying medical concerns.

 

As for 9 vaccinated COVID deaths in September, it is sad that they still lost their lives in spite of all efforts they made. It is very important to learn lessons from these cases to find solutions to avoid this kind of sadness.

 

Excluding one case with unknown records of comorbidity, the remaining eight vaccinated COVID-related fatalities were distributed to different age groups, meaning not only the seniors have the risk. But, all of them had underlying medical conditions. So, in addition to offering vaccines, it is very likely that an extra amount of time and effort to take good care of chronic disease patients is necessary.


Vaccinated COVID deaths in Sep. 2021

Age

Comorbidity

Under 40

1

Yes

8

40-49

1

No

0

50-59

1

Unknown

1

60-69

3

 

Over 70

3



Almost everybody in Guam is no stranger to chronic diseases. Many of our friends and family members are suffering from diabetes and kidney disease. Stroke and heart attack took the lives of our loved ones very often. Most of chronic patients regularly visit their physicians. If clinics could have designated personnel contact their regular chronic patients and remind them the risk for COVID complications, it could be very helpful.

 

While the high prevalence of diabetes, heart disease and other chronic illness could be the main factors affecting Guam’s COVID mitigation, perhaps it is time that we should have an islandwide health campaign to not only minimize COVID impact but also solve the island’s long-time health issue. For example, a raffle offering people who lost weight, improved blood sugar, or lowered blood pressure a chance to win a car or cash would be nice. A healthier island could be the most precious treasure that Guam eventually gets from the painful pandemic.




 

Previous Back to List Next