Doctor urges lifestyle reset to ease NCD pressure on health system

The health system is facing growing pressure from a surge in non-communicable diseases (NCDs), with the head of the medical association urging urgent lifestyle changes to stem an epidemic driven by poor nutrition and inactivity.

In an interview with Barbados TODAY, Barbados Association of Medical Practitioners President Dr Lynda Williams said: “My observation is that we have an increase in new diagnoses of NCD, and that’s just a fact.” She added that the data showing trends since the COVID-19 pandemic “will become available but it isn’t available at this moment”.

With the new year often associated with resolutions and fresh starts, Dr Williams pointed to obesity as a major driver of the current epidemic of chronic illness. “One of the main drivers of the NCD epidemic is obesity,” she said, noting that when it begins in childhood, the long-term effects are more severe. According to her, the rise in hypertension, diabetes and pre-diabetes is being “largely driven by sedentary lifestyles, meaning we’re not moving very much, not exercising,” combined with “poor nutrition”.

Inactivity and unhealthy diets do more than lead to weight gain. She explained:  “By themselves, sedentariness and poor nutrition can also directly lead to high cholesterol, onset of diabetes and hypertension.” For children in particular, the issue is deeply rooted in the home. “They don’t buy their own food. They have to be given food,” she said, expressing concern that “we’re seeing many more children with obesity”.

Dr Williams highlighted the typical Barbadian diet, describing it as “very starchy, bread-filled, pasta-filled, and rice-filled”, often high in saturated fat and sugar. She argued that making better choices requires support at a national level. 

She said: “What we need is for people to be able to make good nutritional choices, and in order to do that, we need policy.” She referenced existing measures such as nutrition policy and soft drink taxation, but said clearer food labelling is also critical so consumers can easily identify foods “high in starch and sugar” or “highly in saturated fat”.

Beyond food, she stressed the importance of family habits. “The children are very, very moved by what they see their parents do,” she said, explaining that inactive parents often raise inactive children. Her call for the coming year includes “switching off the tablets and the video games” and embracing outdoor family activities, which she said benefit both physical and mental health. “It increases our mental health when we do active things.”

She also urged policymakers to think about the spaces people live in. “We want green spaces. We want policy that creates green spaces for people,” she said, adding that access to exercise-friendly environments is key to reducing diabetes and hypertension rates.

Accessibility and affordability of healthy food remain major challenges. Dr Williams described the familiar experience of wanting to eat well after work but finding few options. “There’s nowhere to find something that is healthy to eat,” she said. Her solution includes making healthy food “cheaper and more available” and teaching people how to prepare meals that appeal to children and teenagers who have grown accustomed to fast food.

She recalled: “There was a time when every Barbadian family had a kitchen garden… planted and grew on their own land what they wanted to eat and what was healthy.”

She suggested that, “We have to get back to encouraging people to do those things, encouraging people to plant stuff at home,” because “you tend to eat more of what you grow.”

Looking ahead to 2026, she issued a clear warning. “I see children whose diet is entirely fast food, and that scares me,” she said, pointing to excessive salt and sugar intake that “cannot bode well for their future”.

Her message for the new year is direct: “Make a conscious decision to move more… a conscious decision to exercise,” choose healthier foods, grow some of what you eat, and most importantly, “start modelling that lifestyle for their children.” While schools and programmes play a role, she emphasised that if “we have to work with parents one on one or have a kind of parenting classes where we can teach and train them from a national perspective, then that’s something we ought to do.”

laurynescamilla@barbadostoday.bb