Castro's Diet and Exercise Plan

In his "documentary" Sicko, Michael Moore failed to cite one of Cuban socialism's true health triumphs–the reduction of heart disease and diabetes among Cubans during the 1990s. A new study by researchers at Johns Hopkins University finds that the Cuban economic collapse had a health upside. As the study's abstract reports:

Cuba's economic crisis of 1989-2000 resulted in reduced energy intake, increased physical activity, and sustained population-wide weight loss…The crisis reduced per capita daily energy intake from 2,899 calories to 1,863 calories. During the crisis period, the proportion of physically active adults increased from 30% to 67%, and a 1.5-unit shift in the body mass index distribution was observed, along with a change in the distribution of body mass index categories. The prevalence of obesity declined from 14% to 7%, the prevalence of overweight increased 1%, and the prevalence of normal weight increased 4%.

In the press release reporting the study researcher Manuel Franco notes:

"Future steps towards prevention of cardiovascular disease and diabetes should focus on long-term population-wide interventions by encouraging physical activity and the reduction of caloric intake."

By "population-wide interventions" I suspect Franco doesn't mean the imposition of backward socialist economic policies. At least I hope he doesn't.