In an effort to curb the growing level of obesity in this island, the Ministry of Health has started talks with several fast food restaurants with the intent of having healthier foods placed on their menus.
Senior Medical Health Officer (CNCDs), Dr. Kenneth George, made this revelation yesterday during Esso’s Help Us Help programme at the Hilton Barbados.
He said that the department was in the process of engaging the restaurants in creating healthier alternatives for its client base.
“I think that they also come to the table knowing that they have similar responsibilities to the people of Barbados. Also, it is not only the issue of healthy options. We need fast food restaurants to have a complete array of healthier options, and not just a special section with healthy options,” he asserted.
Saying some had claimed that they had already eliminated the use of trans fats, he stated that others had reduced the amount of salt, especially on their fries.
“It is a slow process. I think the Ministry of Health needs to continue to engage them to make sure that the population of Barbados remains in a better place,” he said.Earlier in the event, specialist with the Barbados Diabetes Association, Dr. Carlisle Goddard, indicated the startling figures of overweightness and obesity in the island and suggested that fast food restaurants had to do their part to keeping the population, their clientele base healthy.
He stressed therefore that such establishments could make easy switches to their ingredients list to make these foods more wholesome.
“So you can have a burger but do you really need the fries with it? Instead of the white bread, you can have the whole wheat,” he said.
In addition, he argued that fast food restaurants should take it a step further by creating parks or other areas for persons to exercise.
“So it requires a coming together of minds; people always buy things that suit their taste. You cannot change people to that much of a degree, but by giving them more options and by educating them, we can shift the way in which people use things,” he outlined. (JMB)
