The Guantanamo Diet: Actual Facts About Detainee Weight Change

Abstract

This paper investigates claims that an alleged obesity epidemic a Guantánamo, is the number one problem at the Guantánamo Bay Detention Facility, and finds it factually unsupportable. From October 2006 to March 2007, of the 428 detainees weighed, only 68 detainees — less than 16% — qualified as obese. This obscures the reality that detainees’ weights varied so wildly that many detainees have been obese briefly and under-nourished at other times. Nearly the same percentage of Guantánamo detainees have become underweight at some point as have become obese at some point. Comparatively, any obesity “problem” at Guantánamo is less severe than obesity in the United States and far less severe than obesity in Oklahoma. Insofar as obesity has increased in Guantánamo over time, this is due to the government’s own release patterns, which release earlier those who are least overweight, thus emphasizing obesity.

Keywords: Guantanamo, torture, detention, obesity, medicine, treatment