One of the country’s leading physicians is concerned about overweight and obesity in Barbadian children.
Addressing those attending the Barbados Workers’ Union Symposium for Senior Students of Secondary School at Solidarity House Friday morning, Sir Trevor Hassell, President of the Healthy Caribbean Coalition and Chairman of the Barbados Non-Communicable Diseases Commission raised the issue of advertising, marketing and promotion of junk foods and fast foods within schools; canteens not selling adequate selections of healthy foods and beverages; the absence of water coolers and unhealthy snacks being sold at the entrances and exits of schools as being among the factors leading to children being overweight or obese in this country. And with that is mind, he is suggesting that there is a need to determine if the local school meals programme may also be contributing to these conditions.
As such, he said that it is important that such meals be constantly accessed to ensure that they are not part of the growing problem. His remarks come with just over a week to go before countries observe World Obesity Day on October 11, the theme of which this year is ‘Overcoming Childhood Obesity’.
His comments came as he noted that a World Health Organisation Global School Survey which was carried out in Barbados in 2012, showed that the prevalence of overweight was 31. 5 percent, while obesity stood at 14.4 percent. Moreover, he said that recent surveys in Barbados also showed that 18.5 per cent of students reported consumption of fast food three or more times per week, 73.3 percent reported drinking one or more carbonated drinks per day and 15 percent reported that they did not consume any fruits or vegetables within the last month. To make matters worse, he noted 70 percent reported low levels of physical activity and 65.3 percent engaged in sedentary activity after school hours.
Sir Trevor also referred to statistics from seven Eastern Caribbean countries, which showed that between 2000 and 2010 the problem of overweight and obesity had increased tremendously. He went further, pointing out that estimates now indicate that up to one third of children in schools across the region are overweight or obese.
“This is not exclusively of problem of Barbados or even the Caribbean because it is estimated that some 42 million infants and children throughout the world were overweight or obese, so it is a big problem… Being overweight or obese in childhood predisposes to being overweight or obese in adulthood and this in turn leads to significant diabetes, asthma, high blood pressure and heart diseases,” he explained.
These non-communicable diseases, he said, not only affect growth and psychosocial development of children and affect the lifespan of adults, but are responsible for eight out of every 10 deaths in this country. He indicated that while some children and adults are overweight or obese due to genetic or hereditary factors, most are so as a result of consuming energy-dense nutrient-poor products and sugar sweetened beverages and not engaging in sufficient physical activity.
To put a stop to or slow the increase of overweight or obesity among children, Sir Trevor is suggesting that periods of compulsory physical activity should be reintroduced in the schools and the sale of sugar sweetened beverages should be banned from school premises. Moreover, he says that schools should also institute gardening programmes to encourage a greater intake of fruits and vegetables by children. (JRT)
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