Census reveals high level of disability in local women

| 01/08/2022 | 49 Comments
Cayman News Service
Deputy Premier Chris Saunders at the census press briefing

(CNS): One of the most concerning statistics revealed by the census is the number of Caymanian women suffering debilitating health consequences of non-communicable diseases, Deputy Premier Chris Saunders said at the press briefing to mark the publication of the Cayman Islands’ 2021 Census of Population and Housing Report.

He noted a “remarkable” difference in the health outcomes for local women when it came to disabilities and diabetes, as he raised the possibility that the cause of the higher rates might be cultural issues or diets. He said this was one of the trends that jumped out to him as a priority issue.

“The one number that really threw me a curve ball was the health number in terms of diabetes, arthritis and everything else,” he said in answer to a CNS question at last week’s press briefing. “When you do look at the breakdown between Caymanian and non-Caymanian, it was quite significant in terms of the difference, and also when you look at the numbers between male and female, it was also noticeably different, with females being higher.”

According to the report, diabetes impacts 4.6% of the population, arthritis 2.2% and cataracts 2%. But a breakdown of the statistics shows that Caymanians are three times more likely to suffer a debilitating illness than non-Caymanians. More women have disabilities than men, even though women now make up less than half the population at 49.3%, a reversal of the figure in the 2010 census.

Women have a higher incidence of all disabilities except hearing and communicating disabilities at 167.6 per 1,000 compared to 127.2 men per 1,000. Overall, Caymanians aged five and older have a significantly higher disability incidence rate at 219.8 per 1,000, compared to non-Caymanians at 64.2 per 1,000.

However, this difference between locals and non-Caymanians is likely because older residents are far more likely to be Caymanians, given the immigration policies. According to the population figures, the number of people aged 65 and over has almost doubled since the 2010 census, jumping to 5,602 people compared to 2,832 a decade ago, and now make up 7.9% of the population, the fastest growing demographic.

Saunders said that Health Minister Sabrina Turner would be looking very closely at these trends to develop policies to address the high levels of disability.

“Some of the most basic functions of any government are to ensure you have an educated, healthy population,” he said, noting that education was trending in the right direction, but health required a deep dive, given that 95% of the people here make their living providing a service.

“People can’t provide a service or provide for their families if they are unhealthy,” he said. Saying that the ministry will be expanding its ‘wellness’ remit to promote healthy living, Saunders said that the “health numbers are of concern for us”.

For this census, there was a more comprehensive set of questions about disability, measuring duration and severity and associated illnesses, as well as the level of insurance coverage and type of insurance. Approximately 93.1% of the total population had health insurance, but just over 91% of Caymanians had healthcare coverage compared to 95.5% of non-Caymanians. Just over 18% of all residents had health insurance provided through the government.

See the full report on the ESO website.

Watch the press briefing on CIGTV below:


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Category: Health, Medical Health

Comments (49)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    Doesn’t any of you critizers know that stress can be a big contributer to being overweight and causing certain deseases like diabetes? Stress levels are also definetely higher in women here than men because the majority of women here are the main breadwinners of the family. Having to be the mother and the father. Also there are other nationalities of women here who are overweight as well. Even more so than Caymanians.

  2. Anonymous says:

    Eat less, move more and cut out the keg. Problem solved.

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  3. Elvis says:

    Poor Diet. Fast foods and so called cayman style will catch you every time.
    Going doctors and getting bags of meds will not cure you, this simply masks the problem.
    Food food food. = health issues. Do your homework

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  4. Anonymous says:

    90 percent of the time, being fat is not a ‘disability’. It is laziness. Labelling it as a disability just gives them an excuse. Eat 1 cheeseburger instead of 4 and see what happens.

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  5. Anonymous says:

    Take a look at the obesity rate among women in the civil service and that will tell you everything you need to know. Desk duty with oxtail will do that to you. Especially when they don’t even stretch to answer the phone or type an email.

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  6. Anonymous says:

    No one asked those questions when they came by. Did they have 2 different sets of questions?

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  7. Anonymous says:

    I read somewhere in a US paper that only a very small percentage black women exercise regularly after leaving high school. This with a poor diet and sedentary lifestyle is the reason why the demographic has the highest diabetes issue in the US. I suspect that its the very same reason in Cayman.

    On my drive to and from work and at the gym I mostly see white women working out. I asked a local what she thought about that and the answer was, I do not want to sweat out my hair.

    Maybe CNS can do a online poll to find out some of the reasons given. I know everyone is pressed for time and dont have time to work out but it would be interesting to find out.

    In my opinion, there should be a large park with a walking trail every two districts. NS/EE/BT can share one in Frank Sound. Newland/RB can share one closer to town and WB can have their own. I spent some time in Tampa and the way the park was designed with shade tree and other activities made me want to go daily. (Just and Idea)

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  8. Anonymous says:

    From observation I have concluded that Caymanian women on average tend to be a little heavier.
    Most say it is due to the local food culture expectation. I guess that is a good way to shift blame and not take responsibility for one’s health.

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  9. Anon says:

    “Some of the most basic functions of any government are to ensure you have an educated, healthy population” = failure at an epic proportion for the post-1990 Cayman team.

    With healthy food becoming even more costly, this will only get worst. Dont worry, after seeing the prices in the supermarket people will be on a diet plan with no other choice. people aren’t lining up at wendy’s for no reason, it’s cheaper dude.

    In the interest of being objective, I believe we could find statistics that would weigh heavier for men than women too if we look deep enough,, for example heart attacks, cholesterol levels, and possibly depression just to name a few.

    I don’t get this political pandering… your mincing statistics to make it look like you care about the locals that voted for you( i wonder if you’re voting populas were made up of the very same women you now advocate for), nice way to stay relevant. Very smart of you if this is the case. To be frank, this is no better than the free publicity Kenneth is giving himself on the billboards all around and only in Town.

    Here is an idea for you: How about you and your team let the country know how the now government is planning to get the island through this recession that is already crashing parts of the united states? What about the new reserve currency that is being developed that will probably dismantle the USD, to which Cayman is tied to? A lot of Fluff from your administration in my opinion. Tired of it. You all couldn’t mash ants if you had to go up against the 80’s cabinet ministers. No substance or backbone at all. It doesn’t matter anyway when all you guys can think about is defending and posting your cronies in board positions and giving them jobs their unqualified for while the true Caymanians on the ground are literally suffering from improper education and a non-thriving workforce.

    Good news though, Cayman Airways is offering flights to LAX now.. Sweet..SMH.

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  10. Anonymous says:

    KFC on WB Road is the busiest ‘restaurant’ on the island by far. Blobby, blobby, blobby!

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  11. Anonymous says:

    Bad choices=bad life. Easy to see, impossible to change.

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  12. Anonymous says:

    When it comes to education, the Minister is being disingenuous with the statistics. The majority of persons who trend towards higher education are mostly expatriates. The number of Caymanians who have pursued higher education or who even have an associate degree is woefully inadequate and still trending downwards.

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  13. Anonymous says:

    next time you go goab or any civil service dept….go check the levels of obese people you see…..then compare that to private sector.

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  14. Anonymous says:

    Y’all like ‘em big. That what you get.

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  15. Anonymous says:

    Nearly all of our MLAs are obese, some critically so, and we are surprised that Caymanians have a high incidence of diabetes?

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    • Anonymous says:

      Let them eat cake, more cake, heavy cake at that. 2lbs sugar and 1lb cassava, a sedentary lifestyle and the metabolism of a turtle. That’ll do it. Our health benefit premiums reflect this popular lifestyle too.

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  16. Anonymous says:

    Did he just say the Health Minister would be looking closely at these trends to develop policies to address the high level of disabilities? WOW!.

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  17. Anonymous says:

    Poor diet choices often results in being over weight and unhealthy. Unfortunately, the Government leaders are hardly setting a good example when it comes to weight management.

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  18. Anonymous says:

    That’s why I married an expat

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    • Anonymous says:

      As a Caymanian, I too am waiting to find a foreigner to marry. That way I can benefit from being able to flee the country when the shit hits the roof since the Government doesn’t want to take responsibility and listen to their people.

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  19. Anonymous says:

    with respect, you do not need a census to highlight this. Just go into any government office and use you eyes. And probably in the schools, its a problem totally ignored and brushed under the carpet.

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  20. Anonymous says:

    How does anyone not have healthcare coverage given it is a strict legal requirement?

    I think someone is refusing to enforce the law….

    Why is that?

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  21. Anonymous says:

    “An educated, healthy population”. With Julianna and Sabrina in charge.

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  22. Anonymous says:

    They need to start being healthy with the ministers in government. How many are morbidly obese?

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  23. Anonymous says:

    Does a lot of it have to do with the woman’s diet? A lot of the woman are heavier than the men and although I love the cooking, it is not the healthiest of foods. Women may be more sedentary, also.

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  24. Anonymous says:

    The MPs could do so much if they led by example. How many of our “leaders” are obese or even morbidly obese? 80%?

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  25. Anonymous says:

    It’s good that health matters like this have come to a sitting Government’s attention. That’s a plus, PACT. What would be great are the actions this info should lead to. Let’s see how PACT handles this without more handouts. A real long-term solution is required. More health awareness programs.

    With the eating habits of many residents, this “news” isn’t really a surprise. Wonder if the Education Department consulted with dieticians when planning “menus” for school lunches? That would be a great place to start with diet & health consciousnesses.

    Oh but wait, I almost forgot. This is the public service. Promoting health consciousness will solicit waste and soon demand full gyms in every Government building or publicly funded gym memberships…..

    Well, at least Franz Manderson can take credit for trying to get his minions and others to run 5k once a year!

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  26. Anonymous says:

    Fairly easy to understand.
    Low activity levels plus horrible diet choices.
    Sadly the cheapest foods are often the worst for you so poorer people often have poor diets. Fresh fruits and veggies are at a premium on the island. The government could help out a lot by removing duties on unprocessed foods and pass legislation ensuring that savings are passed on to consumers.
    Also, the government needs to do more to encourage physical activity and there are many creative ways to do this…there is so much low hanging fruit here it’s not even funny. Pun intended.

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  27. Anonymous says:

    So…non-caymanians should get discounted health insurance? Or they just subsidizing the locals?

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  28. Anonymous says:

    These reports give me serious cause for concern about my census entry. My enumerator completed my census over the phone – she left a number and I had to call her to complete the census. But she only asked a very few questions and none of them were about health, insurance, disability etc. Just where we lived, ages, occupations, immigration status and whether we had a TV, computer or air con. That was it.
    Who can I contact to find out what my census entry reports for our household – because there is no way it was completed correctly if I wasn’t asked all of the questions.

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    • Anonymous says:

      That is the same thing I was wondering!! I was never asked about my health or that of my husband!!

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      • Anonymous says:

        They never asked me those questions either and I am a woman and a Caymanian. Maybe those questions were just for Caynanian women who looked really overweight or something. Just one more thing to try to make Caymanians look bad and talked about badly.

  29. Anonymous says:

    the obession with caymanian women with eating high carb, fried food dishes…2-3 times per day is horrifying

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    • Anonymous says:

      you trash fool
      you saying men dont do the same shit lol majorty of women are also single moms im sure they have less time.

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  30. Anonymous says:

    how many mla’s are obese?

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  31. Anonymous says:

    caymanin diet is garbage….caymanian excercise and activity levels are some of the lowest in the world.
    what is the big surprise here?

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    • Anonymous says:

      in the world? lmao
      you measured this?

      walk around america you see many more huge horrifying people. but yeah buddy youre right… the world.

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  32. Anonymous says:

    That is why the government should have something in place to help women like these , women who is struggling to make end meet with the high standards of living,you go to get your medication and all you is getting is one month supply in that case you pay triple for your medication now.that is what they need to look at and stop robbing the dead.

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