Islands of Obesity
If you look at pictures of Chamorros a hundred years ago, we look markedly different today. I do not mean in terms of skin color and so on, but I mean in terms of size. If you look at images of Chamorros a century ago there are some who look healthy and comfortable in their size, but most, especially men are quite skinny. Descriptions of Ancient Chamorros allude to them being a bit on the larger side, healthy, but slightly overweight. A happy and comfortable plumpness. Chamorros today are a very large and very unhealthy people. Some of this can be blamed on environmental factors, such as poisons in the land and sea due to militarization. It can also be blamed on the diets of people today, which are a combination of poor health choices but also structural conditions that go all the way back to the end of World War II and the drastic changes that took place in the Chamorro way of life. Chamorros are not unique in this regard but it is a tragic story we find across the Pacific, wher