Time to act against NCDs, says Minister

Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Wellness Dr Sonia Browne, has called for greater urgency and action in dealing with the scourge of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs).

She urged for greater accountability to be placed on the manufacturers of unhealthy foods and beverages, as she gave brief remarks during Thursday’s prizegiving ceremony for the Nutrition Month School Essay and Poster Competition, held at The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus.

Dr. Browne, who congratulated the students on their many winning entries in the competition, which had primary and secondary school students submitting pieces under the theme “Good Nutrition Without Boundaries”, emphasised that it was not enough for the Ministry of Health and others to push for healthy eating within schools, but that students also had an integral part to play in holding manufacturers of sweetened foods and drinks to account for not providing wider selections with healthier products.

“Hold your stakeholders accountable, and I do also include the Government here. Push for change, insist on reformulation of sugar sweetened foods and beverages, high salt foods and high fat foods. Learn about frontal package labelling which has been in the media recently.

“Learn about warning labels on packages, which makes it even easier for our little three-year-olds to see at a glance what the contents of a package or beverage hold. You as students have the power to insist that your cafeterias offer healthy choices,” she explained.

The Minister also added that though health officials have been repeating the worrying health statistics for some time now, the need to hammer home the growing health crisis was unavoidable, as more and more Barbadians are being diagnosed with diabetes, hypertension, or some other form of heart ailment.

“It is now no secret that they are responsible for eight out of ten deaths in Barbados, that one in every five adults in Barbados has diabetes, it is not a secret that one in every three children are overweight or obese.

“Almost 75 per cent of Barbadian students drink one or more sodas every day, and you all have heard the economic costs associated with the NCDs.

“These statistics have been repeated time and time again, and I as Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Wellness, the Ministry of Education, NGOs, [and] civil society, will continue to repeat these statistics and put emphasis on relevent programmes until change is realised.”

Fifteen schools overall entered the competition, with eight from primary and seven from secondary.

The Reynold Weekes Primary School took first prize in the poster competition for primary schools, while The Lodge School secured both first prizes for the poster and essay competition for secondary schools. (SB)