As part of our My Healthy Heroes pilot project, we worked with two fourth grade classes in St Kitts to highlight the importance of healthy eating.

As part of this project, we sought to use creative ways to consolidate what students learnt in our sessions. Therefore, one of the tasks we gave students was to write either a short story, rap or poem featuring one of our My Healthy Heroes characters.

Today, we’re delighted to share a few of the short stories with you. We hope you enjoy them.

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A Mangolicious Dream

By: Rainier Martin

In the night, Amelia ate her dinner. Afterwards, she went to sleep, to wake up the next morning.

When Amelia was finally asleep, she had a great dream. There were characters, Miss Mangolicious and her healthy fruit and vegetable friends.

Miss Mangolicious and her friends, Tommy Tomato and Potato Head Jed were on a great mission.

“We have to save Amelia!” exclaimed Miss Mangolicious.

“Amelia is suffering from a severe case of Lack-of-Healthy-Eating-itis” said Tommy Tomato.

“We need to meet Ameilia at her usual eating spot right now. Quick, to my Mangolicious Carriage!” exclaimed Miss Mangolicious.

“There she is, sitting under the shady trees,” said Potato Head Jed.

“Amelia!” shouted Miss Mangolicious.

“You need to eat healthy foods,” said Tommy Tomato.

“Let us teach you the importance of healthy eating,” they all said.

“It is good to eat fruits and vegetables because you get a lot of vitamins and your bones become stronger,” said Potato Head Jed.

After all that Amelia learned in her dream, she started eating healthy from then on. Every day, Amelia eats fruits, vegetables and of course, mangoes!

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The Adventures of Professor Cornilious Cob

By: Kailynn Browne

 One day, the Sugary Drink Assassins and the Junk Food Villains were trying to take over Healthy Land.

Professor Cornilius Cob said, “Stop right there!”

The Sugary Drink Assassins and Junk Food Villains exclaimed, “We’re not going to listen to you!”

Professor Cornilius Cob needed some help from his friends. He called Miss Mangolicious, Captain Splash, Potato Head Jed and Mama Elegant.

Professor Cornilius Cob said, “We are going to fight them with facts.”

They all thought this was a great idea.

Professor Cornilious Cob said, “I am rich in vitamin B12, folic acid and iron.”

With that said, Frenchy the Frier disappeared into thin air.

“I have vitamins A, C, B6 and potassium,” said Miss Mangolicious. Donutter Dennis turned into dust.

Captain Splash exclaimed, “I am very important.” Juicer Jones turned into a puddle.

Mama Elegant exclaimed, “I have a beautiful colour which makes people want to eat me,” Greasy Greg Chicken Led turned raw.

After that day, the Junk Food Villains and Sugary Drinks Assassins went back to Unhealthy Land and never came back.

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We hope you enjoyed these two stories. Please do give our young writers a bit of encouragement by leaving a comment below and we’ll share more in our next blog post.

Update: The State of Emergency that went into effect on Saturday 28th March 2020 has now been repealed and as of 31st March 2020 at 7 pm, St Kitts and Nevis is under a 24-hour curfew until Friday 3rd April at 6 am. You can read the new regulation here and view a news piece from ZIZ News about the curfew below.

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Today, Saturday 28th March 2020, the Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis, Dr the Honourable Timothy Harris announced a state of emergency to protect the public from COVID-19.  This means that effective from 7 pm today all residents are subject to a curfew from 7 pm to 5 am daily for the next 14 days, outside of these hours the public’s movements will be restricted and any movement during this period should involve social and physical distancing.

You can view the full COVID-19 Emergency Powers Regulations below for in-depth information about what is and isn’t allowed during the next 14 days.

If you have any questions, you can contact the COVID-19 hotline by dialling 311.

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SAINT CHRISTOPHER AND NEVIS

STATUTORY RULES AND ORDERS

Emergency Powers (COVID-19) Regulations

In exercise of the power conferred by section 5 of the Emergency Powers Act, Cap. 19.02, the Governor-General, makes the following Regulations:

1. Citation and duration.

(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Emergency Powers (COVID-19) Regulations, 2020.

(2) These Regulations shall come into operation once a state of emergency for the novel coronavirus or COVID-19 is declared by Proclamation, published in the Official Gazette.

2. Restriction on freedom of movement.

(1) A curfew is imposed every day from 7:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. except as provided in these Regulations or as may be approved by the Commissioner of Police.

(2) Freedom of movement every day from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. shall be exercised in accordance with these Regulations.

(3) These Regulations shall not apply in the case of a medical emergency.

3. Work remotely from home.

(1) All businesses and offices may continue their business operations by allowing their employees to work remotely from home utilizing virtual means, unless they are permitted to work under regulation 5 or are designated as being essential workers under regulation 7.

(2) Where a business is unable to continue its business operations by its employees working remotely from home, the business shall cease its operations.

4. Public Service, Statutory Bodies, State-owned Enterprises and Courts.

(1) Subject to sub-regulation (2), all members of the public service shall work remotely from home, except as otherwise directed by the Secretary to the Cabinet.

(2) Where the Secretary to the Cabinet directs that specified public officers

attend work, the Government shall take reasonable steps to

(a) ensure safe transport of the public officers in accordance with regulation 13; and

(b) comply with the physical distancing protocols in accordance with regulation 6.

(3) Subject to sub-regulation (4), all employees of Statutory Bodies and State-owned Enterprises shall work remotely from home, except as otherwise directed by the Chairperson of the Board

(4) Where the Chairperson of the Board directs that specified employees attend work, the Statutory Bodies or State-owned Enterprises as the case may be shall take reasonable steps to

(a) ensure safe transport of the employees in accordance with regulation 13; and

(b) comply with the physical distancing protocols in accordance with regulation 6.

(5) Subject to any relevant the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court Practice Direction, the Courts shall remain accessible, shall adhere to physical distancing protocols and the persons employed within the public service shall work remotely from home as far as reasonably practicable.

(6) In this regulation, “the Court” means the Magistrates Courts and the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court.

5. Closure of businesses and exceptions.

(1) Every non-essential establishment or business shall remain closed except for the following businesses which may remain open for any period within the specified time

(a) wholesale or retail grocery stores; commercial bakeries; or fruit and vegetable vendors from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and for the first two shopping hours seniors, disabled persons and essential workers with identification shall be granted priority;

(b) doctor’s offices, hospitals and medical facilities;

(c) pharmacies and medical supply establishments;

(d) gas stations from 6:00 am. to 5:00 p.m.;

(e) hardware stores from 6:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m;

(f) hotels, excluding any casinos, spas, gyms, discotheques and restaurants therein, however, such restaurants may offer takeaway or room service;

(g) banks, credit unions and money services business from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., on Mondays to Thursdays and 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Fridays;

(h) commercial ports and related businesses between 6:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., subject to any variation by the Ports Authority;

(i) airports subject to regulation 10(1)(a);

(j) commercial courier flights;

(k) businesses licensed to provide security guard services

(l) take away food vendors from 6:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.;

(m) the National Caribbean Insurance Company or other health insurance companies;

(n) such other businesses or undertakings as may be specifically exempted in writing by the Commissioner of Police

provided that the owner or operator of an establishment specified in paragraphs (a) to (n) shall adhere to social distancing and physical distancing protocols pursuant to regulation 6.

(2) Subject to sub-regulation (3), all works of construction of any sort (apart from urgent plumbing, electrical, roof repairs or other emergency repairs for a home or business) shall cease.

(3) Where it is necessary for the purposes of health and safety and with the written approval of the Commissioner of Police, pre-existing works of construction may continue.

6. Social distancing and physical distancing protocols.

All business establishments shall make the necessary arrangements to facilitate social distancing and physical distancing and shall

(a) ensure that all customers and staff maintain physical distancing of at least six feet (6ft.) in or outside of their business if in a line to enter the business;

(b) determine the number of persons that may be permitted in the establishment at any one time by permitting one person for every thirty square feet of store space;

(c) place distance markers at least six feet apart, indicating where each customer must stand on a line at a check out point or other line;

(d) place distance markers at least six feet apart on the outside of the establishment, indicating where customers must stand while waiting to enter the establishment.

7. Shelter in place.

(1) Subject to sub-regulation (2) and in an effort to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus or COVID-19, every person shall remain confined to their place of residence, inclusive of their yard space, to avoid contact outside of their family, except

(a) essential workers, who are required to report to work;

(b) workers required to work under regulation 4 or 5;

(c) for essential travel to the doctor, grocery store, bank, credit union, money services business, pharmacy or to refuel vehicles;

(d) for outdoor exercise, whether alone or together with family members living under the same roof, between the hours of 5:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.,

provided that such person must ensure at all times to distance themself at least six feet (6 ft.) from any other person.

(2) For the purposes of this regulation, an “essential worker” includes essential officers of

(a) the Royal Saint Christopher and Nevis Police Force;

(b) the Saint Christopher and Nevis Defence Force;

(c) the Fire and Rescue Services Department;

(d) the prisons, correctional facilities, or other similar establishments;

(e) the Social Security

(f) the Department of Social Services;

(g) the Department of Environmental Health;

(h) the Department of Immigration;

(i) the Customs and Excise Department;

(j) waste disposal and sanitation companies;

(k) any hospital, health care or medical facility;

(l) Saint Kitts and Nevis Red Cross;

(m) Air and Sea Ports Authorities;

(p) Accountant General’s Department and Inland Revenue Department;

(o) any water, electricity or other sector encompassing the provision of electronic communications including print and electronic media.

(3) All essential workers shall at all times carry personal identification.

8. Education and religious instruction.

(1) All religious and educational places of instruction or worship shall remain closed.

(2) Subregulation (1) does not prohibit—

(a) any activity referred to therein by electronic or virtual means;

(b) individual attendance at a place of worship for private individual prayer while practicing social distancing and physical distancing

9. Restriction on social activities.

No person shall host or attend

(a) a private party which includes any person from outside of the immediate household;

(b) a recreational or competitive sporting event or other types of public entertainment;

(c) a wedding which hosts ten or more persons other than the bride, bridegroom, official witnesses and the marriage officer;

(d) a banquet, ball or reception;

(e) any other ceremony in any facility or public place which involves the participation of any member of the general public or a gathering of ten or more persons;

(f) a funeral, except 10 members of the immediate family and at least one officiant and essential mortuary;

(g) a meeting of a fraternal society, private or social club or civic association or organization that exceeds a total of 10 persons; or

(h) any other type of social event, for a nonessential purpose, where more than 10 persons are gathered together.

10. Restriction on international travel.

(1) For the purposes of preventing, controlling and suppressing the spread of the novel coronavirus or COVID-19, with immediate effect

(a) except with the prior written permission of the Air Ports Authorities, all airports including private airports and fixed-base operations shall be closed to incoming international flights;

(b) all sea ports shall be closed to regional and international seafaring and private boating; and

(c) a visitor shall not be permitted to enter and disembark for any reason, including transiting through Saint Christopher and Nevis.

(2) The restriction contained in paragraph (1) does not apply to

(a) outgoing flights or outgoing ships, as the case may be;

(b) cargo flights or cargo ships, as the case may be;

(c) commercial courier flights;

(d) emergency medical flights;

(e) emergency flights approved by the Air Ports Authorities;

(f) a flight carrying any diplomat.

(3) Notwithstanding sub-regulation (2), no crew member will be allowed or granted shore leave, unless for the purposes of operational difficulties and upon receiving permission from the Airports Authorities or the Ports Authorities.

11. Restriction on domestic travel.

No person shall offer for hire or seek to travel on any inter-island private commercial sea transport, provided that the Ports Authorities may vary any of the requirements by an Order.

12. Restriction on road traffic

(1) No person shall drive a vehicle on any public or private road for a purpose other than stated in regulation 5, 7, 9 (c) or 9 (g).

(2) The Saint Christopher and Nevis Police Force and the Saint Christopher and Nevis Defence Force shall have powers to stop any vehicle and inquire as to the purposes for which that vehicle is being utilised, and to arrest anyone found in violation of this restriction.

(3) For the purposes of this regulation, “vehicle” includes a motor vehicle or motorbike.

13. Public transportation

(1) No person shall offer for hire or seek to travel on

(a) any motor omnibus unless there is or would be no more than one passenger per row in the motor omnibus in a staggered formation;

(b) any hiring car or taxi, unless there is not more than one passenger in the vehicle;

(c) any passenger ferry unless there is or would be no more than persons per row.

(2) In this regulation, “motor omnibus”, “hiring car” and “taxi” have the meanings assigned under the Vehicles and Road Traffic Act, Chapter 15.06.

14. Restriction on visitation.

(1) No person shall visit or be permitted to visit

(a) any place of quarantine or isolation station;

(b) a patient in a hospital or residential care establishment or facility, including an elderly nursing home;

(c) a detainee in prison.

(2) Notwithstanding sub-regulation (1) (b) but subject the protocol of the hospital, a patient of a hospital may be allowed one visitor per day.

15. Penalty.

A person who contravenes or fails to comply with these Regulations shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars or a term of imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 month or to both and to forfeiture of any goods or money in respect of which the offence has been committed.

On 21^st February 2020, we were delighted to start the pilot for our My Healthy Heroes program with over thirty wonderful, enthusiastic fourth-graders from the Immaculate Conception Catholic School (ICCS) in St Kitts.

Our My Healthy Heroes program aims to educate and empower children to make healthy choices by tapping into their creativity to highlight the importance of a healthy lifestyle in a fun and engaging way.

This pilot project with the ICCS aimed to test our resources and characters (Healthy Heroes, Sugary Drinks Assassins and Junk Food Villains) and determine whether our approach would be effective at educating children about healthy eating and more importantly facilitate a change in their behaviour.

Getting Ready for the Pilot

For six months, we worked closely with the Taiwan International Cooperation and Development Fund and teachers at the ICCS to develop a collection of resources that would align with the school curriculum, particularly with the healthy eating classes currently being delivered to fourth graders as part of Health and Family Life Education (HFLE).

The resources we developed were based on three types of characters.

My Healthy Heroes. A group of characters that represent fruits and vegetables, for example, Miss Mangolicious and Professor Cornelius Cob.

Sugary Drinks Assassins. A collection of characters that raise awareness of the dangers of sweet drinks such as the Soda Pop Sniper and Juicer Jones.

Junk Food Villains. A set of characters that educate children about the impact that junk food has on their health (Greasy Grey Chicken Leg, Zerger the Harmburger etc.)

Using these characters, we then went on to develop a lesson plan for teachers, a set of information cards, badges, fridge magnets, activity sheets (food trackers, drinks trackers, food groups, word searches, mazes etc.) and a series of data collection sheets (questionnaires for teachers, students and parents).

We also explored ideas for how we could make classes engaging, encourage children to critically analyse the importance of a healthy lifestyle and introduce creative ways for children to demonstrate what they have learnt.

Through a series of brainstorming meetings, we decided on introducing two creative assignments.  The first would be to ask students to write a rap, poem or adventure story based on our characters and what they have learnt about healthy eating. Their creative writing would then be used to create a healthy eating anthology which students can have as a keepsake but most importantly can be used to educate other children about healthy eating.

The second assignment would be to bring their creative writing to life using stop motion animation. In this activity, students will develop a short animation that will communicate a healthy eating message.

Delivering the Pilot

After months of planning, we were really happy to implement our ideas and began on a sunny Friday in February with two fourth grade classes. Our first session with fourth-graders was what we called week 0, a pre-assessment session.  During this session, we introduced students to our project and were thrilled at their response. They were excited, enthusiastic and very keen to learn more about My Healthy Heroes – a great start. We also took some basic measurements – height, weight, body fat and waist circumference – of each child and asked each student to complete a questionnaire to find out more about their eating preferences and what they knew about healthy eating. We also gave students a food tracker and asked them to make a note of everything they ate over the following seven days.

Prior to this session we sent students home with a questionnaire for their parents to further explore their eating habits and identify any challenges that parents may have in introducing healthy eating practices at home.

Right now, we’re still analyzing this information, but so far this data has been very insightful. We’ll report back on this in a future blog when all the data has been analysed.

After our pre-assessment session, we visited the school for a further four sessions where we used our resources to discuss the following with students

• Food groups and healthy eating
• Healthy vs. unhealthy eating
• Fruits and vegetables
• Colour categories of fruits and vegetables
• Healthy drinking
• The dangers of sweet drinks

We also gave students their assignment of writing a story, rap or poem based on their selected character (either a Healthy Hero, Sugary Drinks Assassin or Junk Food Villain) and were very impressed at the quality of the work they submitted. The raps were excellent, the stories were creative and the poems were engaging whilst maintaining a healthy eating message as the foundation of their work.

They also had to present their piece to the class and all we can say is ‘wow!’  Our fourth graders came prepared. Some students had memorized their raps and had carefully planned how they would recite their piece so that it was engaging and fun. They really did a great job.

Due to the coronavirus, the school the term ended early, so we’ll be continuing our work with fourth graders in the next month or so.

Next, they’ll be working on bringing their assignments to life with stop motion animation and we’ll be doing a post-project assessment to get their feedback on the project.

What We Have Learnt So Far

So far, we have been extremely impressed with fourth graders retention of the information that we have taught them over the past few weeks. They remember a lot and every week they have been able to recall the information they learnt the previous week.

Our characters have been extremely important in getting children excited about learning about healthy eating and improving their retention of the information. They love the characters and were excited to receive the information cards, badges and fridge magnets, and many of them wore the badges to class every week and wanted to be associated with a Healthy Hero and not a Junk Food Villain or Sugary Drinks Assassin. This suggests that if healthy foods are made cool, we can entice children to gravitate towards healthy options.

An issue that we identified was the need to properly explain the harms of unhealthy eating and in a way that resonates with them. There didn’t seem to be an appreciation of the long-term effect of unhealthy eating and through our discussions with them, we felt that because of this they didn’t see unhealthy eating as something that would impact them significantly. So, we tried to strike a balance of being honest and informative without causing any unnecessary fear, the aim was to be empowering.

Children are honest and overall they did say that they would try to make healthy choices but if they had to choose between certain foods, they would still choose the unhealthy option only because they felt it tastes better – so trying to explore tastier ways of preparing healthy food is a must if we are to change children’s eating habits.

Children were also very perceptive, they realized that they tend to make unhealthy choices because it’s easy in terms of it being accessible and they see it on TV all the time. One student said to us, if he had a food tracker all the time, it would remind him to eat healthily. He genuinely just forgets and doesn’t think about the choices he makes during the day when he buys snacks.

A project like ours needs to be long-term, children need constant reminders and nudges to make healthy choices or else the high volume of marketing of unhealthy foods will capture their attention and influence their behaviour.

We have a lot of work to do in the field of Public Health to compete with the food industry and by expanding this work, we hope that we can make a small contribution to getting children excited about healthy food and therefore encourage them to make healthier choices.

Coming up Next

In our next blog, we’ll be sharing fourth-graders stories, raps and poems with you. They did a great job!

COVID-19 is starting to make its way over to the shores of the Caribbean. We are sure you’ve been bombarded with a lot of information so we won’t add too much more but simply share some useful information from the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) and Jamaica’s Ministry of Health and Wellness.

As of 11^th March 2020,  PAHO reported the following number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Caribbean

• The Dominican Republic: 5
• Jamaica: 1
• Martinique: 3
• Saint Barts: 1
• Saint Martin:2

What is COVID-19 and what you can do at work, home and in public to prevent infection

Jamaica’s Ministry of Health and Wellness has prepared some very useful resources to help the public understand what COVID-19 is and how you can protect yourself, your family and your colleagues. You can read these below:

What is COVID -19?

Measures You Can Take to Protect Your Home

Protecting Your Workplace

Protecting Yourself When You’re in Public

Conclusion

Before we go, we just wanted to stress the importance of seeking information from reputable sources which would be WHO, PAHO and your countries’ Ministries of Health, to remain calm and to pay special attention to your elderly family members (those who are over 60) and those with non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease and chronic respiratory disease as these two groups of people are at a higher risk of developing severe COVID-19 disease if exposed.

We’re delighted to inform you that OH Services will be hosting another four-week course on the emotional impact of fibroids which starts on Wednesday 4th March 2020.

This course is aimed at women who have been affected by fibroids, professionals who would like to support and understand their clients better and family members and friends who would like to learn more about fibroids so they can help their loved ones.

The course will be led by Olivia Haltman who is an accredited Integrative Humanistic Counsellor and an Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapist.  She is also a member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), EMDR UK & Ireland and BAATN (Black and Asian Therapist Network). Ms Haltman has over 10 years experience working in the mental health sector having worked for organisations like Mind and established her organisation to support people who want to develop their lives on a personal level and reach their best potential.

The Aim of the Course

This course will empower attendees, enabling them to

• Get an understanding of how fibroids affect your emotions and life
• Create a stepping stone to start a routine to work on their self-care
• Create their own self-care plan
• Learn how to support and understand others with fibroids
• Start a self-development journey to improve their general wellbeing

It will be interactive and include: a lecture, break out exercises, Q & A, guest speakers, homework, hand-outs and a Certificate of Attendance upon attending the full 4 weeks.

We’ve Teamed Up With OH Services

We’re delighted to have formed a partnership with OH Services. Those who register for the OH Services course will be able to claim a 20% discount on any of our services and products

More Information

For more information, you can visit OH Services’ Eventbrite page, visit their website or email us

We are absolutely delighted to inform you that our fibroids research study has now begun after receiving ethics approval from the Ministry of Health last month. Our research project will explore the experiences of women residing in St Kitts and Nevis, who have been affected by fibroids.

The reason for trying to understand these experiences is because it has become clear that fibroids are a common health issue affecting women in St Kitts and Nevis. It is therefore important to explore if fibroids are affecting the quality of life of women in the Federation and understand what challenges women may be facing so we can provide effective and appropriate support, advocate on behalf of women, and ensure that women receive the best medical care possible.

We’re Looking For Volunteers

If you live in St Kitts and Nevis, are between the ages of 18 and 55 and have been diagnosed with fibroids within the last 5 years (any time between January 2015 and January 2020), you can take part in this research.

As a participant, you will be asked to take part in a 90-minute interview and in exchange for your time, you will receive $50EC.

 More Information

If you’re interested in taking part in this study or have any questions, please contact Abi Begho by emailing research@lakehealthandwellbeing.com or calling  1 869 765 8702.

Ethics Approval Details

This research study was granted ethics approval by St Kitts Ministry of Health’s Interim Ethics Review Committee on 12^th December 2019 (our ethics approval number is IERC-2019-12-035)

Research Partners

                                                 

This project is a partnership between Lake Health and Wellbeing, Serrette Brown Research and Consulting and Soca Girls Rock!

Today, we are delighted to share with you a guest blog post from Dyna Criss.

Dyna holds a degree in health and fitness, has worked as a health instructor for over a decade with a number of prominent health-related organizations and is a writer at heart.

 In this guest blog post, Dyna discusses how you can maintain a healthy weight by practising mindful eating.

People who want to maintain the right body weight can try mindful eating. Often, while eating, we can become preoccupied, distracted by our thoughts and others around us. Mindful eaters stay in the present moment and truly focus on the task at hand. Mindful eating requires that we eat slowly and reflect on why we’re eating, savour the taste of our food and listen to our body so that we pick up on our body’s signal of when we’re full, to avoid overeating.

Research suggests that mindful eating can help improve our eating habits and address binge eating, as well as eating for comfort.

Mindful eating can be challenging so below are some tips and tricks to help you get started

Reflect

Before eating try pausing for a moment. Now, think about how you are feeling. Are you stressed? Hungry? Bored? Happy? Ask yourself, what you want and what your body needs? After getting the answer to these questions, you can then choose the right food, at the right time and in the right quantity.

Take A Seat

 You should never eat in a rush. First, take a seat, get comfortable and then start eating. You will not be able to enjoy your meal or track your food intake if you are in a hurry or multitasking.

Turn off the TV and Put Away Your Phone

 Many people watch TV or interact with their phone while eating. These are significant distractions, that prevent us from being aware of the taste and quantity of what we are eating.

Be Aware of Your Portion Size

If you have purchased something to eat from a food vendor, eating it directly from the package can lead to overeating as we feel obligated to eat everything in one sitting.  It is better to place a small portion on a plate and tackle that, let it digest and if you’re still hungry, add another small portion. If there is any leftover, you can save the rest for another time.  If you’re cooking at home, be aware of what a serving size is and then make sure you adjust your portion size accordingly, so you don’t consume more than you realise.

Use Smaller Plates

If you see less than your stomach will crave less. Try using a smaller plate that will help you to eat adequately, but not excessively. A small plate size is a simple way to control the quantity of food you eat.

Be Thankful

Before having your meal, take a break for a minute and acknowledge and appreciate what it has taken to get every piece of food on to your plate. From farmers and factory workers to the chefs and your dining companions as well as your job that provides the resources to buy what you eat, there is much to be thankful for. When you pause to acknowledge this, you will develop a deeper appreciation and respect for the food you eat and this can positively affect your eating habits.

Chew At Least 30 times

 After having each bite, try to chew at least 30 times.  Not only does this enable you to enjoy the flavour and texture of your food, but it prevents overeating by giving your gut time to send a signal telling your brain you are full before you overindulge.

Put down Your Knife and Fork

 Many times, when we eat, we’re in a rush so we are ready to take our next bite before finishing what’s already in our mouth. Try putting down your knife and fork, sitting back, relaxing and enjoying what you’re currently eating. Try to refrain from picking up your knife and fork until you have swallowed what’s in your mouth.

You Can Leave Something On Your Plate

As kids, we were taught to finish all the food that was on our plate. We were not allowed to leave the table until our plate was empty. This has led to many of us overeating and not recognizing when we’re really full. It’s better to take your time, listen to your body and when you start to feel full, stop. To avoid waste, simply pack what is left for another time.

Try Solitude and Silence 

Every now and again, try eating in a quiet, tranquil environment. Silence can be challenging as our minds can wander so try to acknowledge any thoughts you may have and then swiftly return to the present moment and enjoy your meal.

Also, most of us like to eat with friends, family or colleagues which is nice but can be distracting. Mealtimes can be a good opportunity to have some me-time, a break from chores, work or the busyness of the day. Try eating alone sometimes and use this time to truly appreciate your mealtime, it may be the only time you get to relax especially during the working week. It also gives you the opportunity to be more food-conscious and really enjoy what you’re eating.

Final Words

Mindful eating offers various benefits. It is helpful for those who want to lose weight and stay fit, makes us more aware of the types of food we are consuming and encourages us to make better food choices.  Through mindful eating, we can improve our eating style and habits, stay healthy and maintain our optimum weight.

Let us know what you think about mindful eating in the comments section below and if you try mindful eating, please share your experience with us, we’d love to hear how it went.

Sources

1. https://www.wikihow.com/Practice-Mindful-Eating
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5556586/https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2016/03/402171/mindful-eating-meditation-may-lead-better-metabolic-health
3. https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=05&q=mindful+eating+researches&btnG=
4. https://careactive.com/

Picture Credits

Tobias Nii Kwatei Quartey

Pablo Merchán Montes

Happy New Year everyone and welcome to 2020!

As usual, as one year ends and the other begins, we like to look back and reflect on our achievements. It’s important for our morale to take some time out to focus on the positive as we don’t have a lot of time during the year to fully appreciate our successes.

This year, we focused our attention on two main areas – childhood obesity and women’s health with our overall objective being to tackle non-communicable diseases in St Kitts and Nevis.

We are delighted to share our 2019 achievements:

1. We continued our work on fibroids, a women’s health issue that is often neglected. We teamed up with organizations from across the world in July for a global fibroids awareness campaign; continued with our fibroids self-care webinar series and formed a partnership with Soca Girls Rock and Serrette Brown Research and Consulting to initiate a qualitative research study on fibroids and received ethics approval from the Ministry of Health, this project will start officially in January 2020. We also held our first fibroids educational event in St Kitts which was attended by over 40 women.

2. We received funding from the ICDF to start our My Healthy Heroes project which aims to encourage a healthy lifestyle in children.

3. We conducted three 6-week chronic disease self-management courses reaching 43 people who either had a chronic health condition, were caring for someone with a chronic disease or were at a high risk of developing a chronic disease.

4. We continued as an active member of the Healthy Caribbean Coalition’s Childhood Obesity Prevention Action Team and assisted in collecting data for the team’s recently published sugary drinks infographic, advocated for front-of-pack (FOP) nutrition labels in the Caribbean and a sugar-sweetened beverage tax.

5. We became members of the St Kitts and Nevis Bureau of Standards Technical Committee for Labelling as part of our work to advocate for FOP nutrition labels. We also became a member of the St Kitts Ministry of Health’s Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission (EMTCT) of HIV and Syphilis Committee (EMTCT Committee).

6. We launched our Healthy Kids SKN campaign and a campaign for World Cancer Day.

7. We attended or participated in a number of events including the ICDF’s Chronic Disease Prevention and Control Forum, the Ministry of Health’s SSB Focus Group, discussed stress management at the Verchilds High School and raised awareness of the importance of a healthy lifestyle and attended the HCC’s NCDs and Conflict of Interest meeting in Barbados.

8. Finally, we expanded our consultancy services from working with one client in 2018 to six clients in 2019 and this included both grant writing and research support. This branch of our work has helped us raise much-needed funding to cover the cost of some of our work.

And that, my friends, is it. It was indeed a productive year.

We would like to say a big thank you to all our funders, clients, collaborators and supporters for your encouragement, kind words and support. We really appreciate it and look forward to a fantastic year ahead. We are truly excited about 2020 and can’t wait to get started.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas today.

As we celebrate the birth of Jesus today, it reminds us to reflect on and be grateful for life.

This year was a sad one for us, Abi Begho (our founder) lost her mother to cancer (Multiple Myeloma) and that is why this Christmas we’re reflecting on the gift of life – why it’s given and why it’s taken away.

Life is given to us by God as a precious gift.  A gift that has immense possibilities and potential.  Through our reflection, we have come to realise that whether we like it or not, the gift of life comes with accountability and responsibility. We are accountable to God as to how we use the gift he entrusted us with and we are responsible for our choices, actions and our impact. With this in mind, we have a new mindset, life has fresh meaning for us, it goes beyond what we want to do with our lives, but identifying what  God’s purpose for our life is. We must fulfil this purpose, make a difference and make our community a better place, in our own way. So one step at a time, one day at a time, one tiny action at our time, in 2020 we aim to fulfil God’s purpose for Lake Health and Wellbeing.

As we fulfil our purpose, we have to think of the lives of others. We thank God for our loved ones, colleagues, collaborators, followers, supports and funders and the impact they have had on our lives. As we enter into 2020 our aim is to show everyone appreciation and to not take others for granted. We endeavour to respect people’s time, opinions, contribution, encouragement, words, talent, messages, phone calls….everything.  We have to take a good look at the effect we have on others and ensure that we have a positive impact on every single person we come in contact with and ensure that every contact we have with people is positive, productive and kind.

Life is taken away when our journey has come to an end. When we get to that point and we look back on our lives, will we be happy with how we ran the race? This question will be at the forefront of our minds every day.

Death has been a powerful lesson for us. We hope this blog post hasn’t been too preachy but this is just what we have been reflecting on today as we remember the birth of Christ and the importance of a life well-lived.

We wish you a great day today, filled with love, shared with family and with a promise of better days ahead.

xx

On Friday December 13th 2019, The Healthy Caribbean Coalition CSO Regional Action Team for Childhood Obesity Prevention released the 2019 Sweet Beverages in the Caribbean Infographic Series: How much sugar is in your beverage? This infographic series is an update of the 2016 HCC Sugar In The Caribbean Infographic Series which showed the sugar content of some sweet beverages available locally.

The consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) is one of the major contributors to the obesity epidemic among adults and children. In the Caribbean on average data shows that 1 in 3 children is overweight or obese. The sugar content of one serving of many popular carbonated beverages and juices far exceeds the entire daily healthy maximum sugar intake for adults and children as recommended by the WHO and the American Heart Association (AHA).

This infographic series is intended to be an educational, awareness-raising tool which provides a snapshot of the sugar content of some of the drinks available in eight Caribbean islands: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago. HCC congratulates the members of the CSO Regional Action Team for the development of these advocacy tools. National supporters include the Ministry of Health and Wellness in Barbados, Barbados Moves, the Barbados National NCD Commission, Saint Kitts and Nevis Moves and Trinidad and Tobago Moves. The work of the HCC would not be possible without the support of Sagicor Life Inc.

You can download the infographics below and find out more about the HCC and their work on their website.