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Morbid obesity deemed instrumental in COVID deaths of those under 50

Dr. Akapusi Ledua
Lt. Gov urges change to our narrative about food after LBJ’s Mortality Analysis
fili@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Lt. Gov. Talauega Eleasalo Ale said the government is committed  to addressing the alarming obesity rate among young people, under 50-years old as reported in the LBJ Medical Center’s Preliminary COVID-19 Mortality Analysis.

Talauega gave the comments at last week’s COVID-19 Task Force virtual news conference, when asked by the news media for reaction to the LBJ mortality analysis since the COVID surge began in American Samoa. The analysis was presented earlier this month.

Among the LBJ findings, presented by the hospital’s acting chief of staff Dr. Akapusi Ledua was that: In the COVID-related deaths of people under the age of 50, most were morbidly obese with an average Body Mass Index of 50 for that age group.

Another LBJ finding is that 75% of those who died were in poor health prior to their COVID-19 infection, with 88% having some form of heart disease. (See Samoa News edition May 5 for details.)

Asked about the LBJ analysis, Talauega, who is also the task force chair, responded that this “is a sobering report. And it is something that is very concerning to the governor and to the government. We need to do a re-check of our approach to consumption. And this is part of our culture in Samoa. We need to look at it carefully and start talking about it openly.”

“The amount of food that we consume is unhealthy, the type of food that we love and enjoy is also unhealthy. And we’ve seen in that report a very glaring example of how directly related our food is to our demise,” he said.

“And I so look forward to working with our medical community — this has to be a community effort, it has to be an acceptance by all of us — residents of American Samoa — we need to do better, because this impacts our young ones, said Talauega, who is also the Governor’s Authorized Representative (GAR).

Talauega declared that, “I’m very much fired up about the report and want to get involved in efforts to make sure that we change the narrative so that our people understand how critical it is for us to reconsider how we consume and to make sure that we protect ourselves and eat healthy so that we an live longer lives — healthy lives — and spend it with the people we love.”

The U.S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other federal partners assisted LBJ in the analysis, which is to — among other things — look at the characteristics of deceased and hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in American Samoa.