With obesity on the rise, it is time that Barbadians start taking better care of their health and bodies.
This is the suggestion of Minister of Health, Donville Inniss. Speaking at the opening of the inaugural Caribbean Obesity Forum yesterday at the Hilton Barbados, Inniss gave an account of recent obesity statistics for this country which show a large increase over the past 10 to 15 years.
“The current statistics indicate that in Barbados the prevalence of overweight or obesity for females is about 70 per cent and for males, 56 per cent. This represents an increase over the last 10 to 15 years whereby females were represented at 65 per cent and males at 50 per cent,” Inniss said.The Minister went on to express concern for the nation’s children and how they are being negatively affected by obesity, adding that interventions to slow the rate of obese and overweight children are being considered.
“The report prepared by the Queen Elizabeth Hospital indicates that 25 per cent of the school-age population is obese or overweight. To this end, the Ministry is currently considering having special clinics specifically targeting overweight, obese and at-risk children with the requisite nutritional and dietary interventions,” Inniss stated.
Despite the statistics and the seeming ongoing warnings about the negative affects of obesity, including its link to a host of chronic non-communicable diseases, Barbadians do not seem to be taking their health into their own hands, and the Minister of Health is calling for this to stop.
“Barbadians and indeed, West Indians, must realise that each one of us has a duty to take better care of our bodies and minds. To do all the things that you know you should not do because you believe that government will find the money to take care of you is a rather naïve attitude that is fraught with a great degree of selfishness,” he stated. (AN)
