Moving towards a healthier nation

THE EDITOR: I refer to a recent commentary in the Newsday, "Make healthier choices at Carnival," which expressed concern about unhealthy eating habits of some people in TT.

The writer made some useful points, even suggesting the reformulation of some products with a view to making food items less unhealthy.

The reality is that unhealthy eating contributes to the prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). There are many ways that unhealthy eating can be tackled.

One way is by adopting policies that have been identified in the past, including the World Health Organization's NCD "best buys," for example, Promote Healthy Diet. Another useful document which outlines specific recommendations is the Caribbean Public Health Agency's six-point policy package.

One medium-term measure is for inter-ministerial collaboration – Ministries of Education, Health, Agriculture – to transform schools into health-promoting schools.

Moreover, the Ministry of Health can launch a healthy eating initiative and host consultations with regard to the preparation of national dietary guidelines. These consultations may help individuals to appreciate the value of paying attention to the Caribbean food groups, and be intentional about fruit and vegetable consumption.

In order to make the food environment less unhealthy, regulation is needed to reduce the exposure of young children and teenagers to the marketing of unhealthy food items.

With the Fourth United Nations High-Level Meeting on NCDs scheduled for September, let's hope that TT would have a high-powered delegation including government ministers (perhaps even the Prime Minister), and that more attention would be given to policy interventions that would make our nation healthier.

IAN GREEN

Couva