Healthy food policies vital in obesity fight

THE EDITOR: The Spotlight section of the Sunday Newsday included “TT obesity grows,” a very informative article on the State of Food Security and Nutrition World Report 2021.

I liked the explanations given for terms such as hunger, malnutrition and food insecurity.

The concerns identified about TT are an indication that policy measures are needed to encourage healthy food choices.

The recommendations about strengthening food environments and changing consumer behaviour by (among other things) reducing salt and sugar content in the food supply and protecting children from the negative impact of food marketing are indications that more attention should be given to the development of guidelines and policies to encourage healthy food choices.

These guidelines and policies could include addressing the issue of implementing front-of-package warning labels on products that are high in salt and sugar, and evaluating the current situation with regard to the advertisement of food items aimed at children.

The time has come for local policymakers to give more specific attention to the childhood obesity prevention scorecard promoted by the Healthy Caribbean Coalition. See healthycaribbean.org

IAN GREEN

Couva