We’re so delighted to have been invited to take part in a panel discussion at the Healthy Caribbean Coalition and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Barbados’ event on childhood obesity.

This event will take place at the beautiful Hilton Hotel in Barbados on 20th November in recognition of Universal Children’s Day and the official end of the HCC’s childhood obesity prevention campaign.

One of the key parts of this campaign was the HCC’s childhood obesity prevention petition which called on our Heads of Government to enact any of the following policies and legislation which have been demonstrated as effective measures to combat childhood  obesity:

• Imposition of a tax of not less than 20% on Sugar Sweetened Beverages (SSBs) and use tax revenue for NCD prevention and control.
• Banning the sale, promotion and marketing of SSBs, and unhealthy foods and beverages in and around schools.
• Mandatory physical activity in all primary and secondary schools
• Adoption and application of regional standards for nutritional and front of package labelling of foods and beverages.
• Banning the marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages to children (includes non-school environments)
• Enacting legislation related to The International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes.

This event will officially close the petition and campaign by bringing together a wide cross section of national and regional stakeholders to celebrate the achievements of the campaign and to chart the way forward.

The meeting will provide a unique opportunity for organizations across the Caribbean, who took part in the campaign, to discuss the progress made over the course of the campaign and share national and regional successes and lessons learned in childhood obesity prevention advocacy platforms.

This one-day forum will also serve to leverage the energy and momentum of the past seven months and redirect it towards focussed evidence-based advocacy in support of creating healthy school environments across the Caribbean.

Lake Health and Wellbeing, as participant of the campaign and a member of the campaign’s civil society action team has been invited to take part in a panel discussion on the importance of coalitions and CSO collaboration around critical issues such as childhood obesity.

We’re very much looking forward to taking part in this very important event and are honoured to have been invited to participate – a big thank you to the HCC and HSFB for the invitation.

The 14^th November is World Diabetes Day, a day that the world comes together to recognise the escalating threat that diabetes poses. This year’s theme is ‘The Family and Diabetes – Diabetes Concerns Every Family.’ This theme will cover a two-year (2018 ad 2019) period.

The aim of the 2018–19 campaign is to raise awareness of the impact diabetes has on the family and to promote the role family members can play in the management, care, prevention and education of diabetes.

The International Diabetes Federation and WHO’s key messages fall under four main areas (discover, prevent and manage) and they provide practical tips and advice for families.

Discover Diabetes

Statistics presented by the International Diabetes of Federation suggest that 50% of people with type 2 diabetes remain undiagnosed. Diagnosing diabetes early is very important in helping to prevent or delay the life-threatening complications that are associated with this condition. It is therefore very important that we are all aware of the symptoms, particularly if we have a family history of diabetes.

For World Diabetes Day, organisers are reminding family members of the key role they can play in identifying symptoms in their family members and thus helping detect diabetes early.

The symptoms of type 2 diabetes can be hard to identify because initially they don’t make you feel unwell and the symptoms may start to feel like normal every day behaviour. Take some time to reflect on whether these symptoms are normal for you, or your family member, or if they could be a sign of type 2 diabetes.

• Urinating more often
• Feeling thirsty
• Feeling very hungry
• Weight loss
• Blurred vision

Prevent Diabetes

There is a huge opportunity to prevent diabetes as the International Diabetes Federation has reported that 80% of diabetes cases can be prevented by the public adopting a healthy lifestyle.  This means that preventing diabetes starts at home. Simply by making a decision for your family to eat a healthy diet and exercise together means that your family members can reduce their risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The aim is for each of us is to create and live in an environment that supports a healthy lifestyle.

Manage Diabetes

Diabetes has a significant impact on families and family members often feel helpless when it comes to caring for those close to them who have diabetes. Research has show that 2 in 3 people wouldn’t know how to care for a family member with diabetes. This is likely to be due to a lack or awareness  and access to relevant educational material. Research has shown that less than 1 in 2 people with diabetes and 1 in 4 family members of people with diabetes have access to diabetes education programmes.

If you’re a family member of a diabetic, it’s important to know that managing diabetes requires daily treatment, regular monitoring, a healthy lifestyle and ongoing education. Family support is key in achieving this. If you feel ill-equipped to support your family members, speak to your doctor and explore whether there are any diabetes self-management courses being held in your area.

Diabetes in St Kitts

Diabetes is a significant health challenge in St Kitts accounting for one of the most common reasons for patients visiting the Joseph N France Hospital for treatment.

In St Kitts and Nevis, approximately 1300 people are living with diabetes, therefore impacting 1300 families, with 71% being women. It is thus important for residents of St Kitts and Nevis to be aware of how they can prevent, manage and discover diabetes so they can better support their family members with diabetes, as well as reduce the risk of unaffected members developing this condition.

For more information you can listen to Hon Wendy Phipps’ s (Minister of State for responsibility for Health in St Kitts), statement in observance of world Diabetes Day 2018 on Sound Cloud here:

Conclusion

Family members can make a significant difference in the prevention, early diagnosis and management of diabetes. It’s important to learn more about this condition and if you need help in St Kitts you can contact the St Kitts Diabetes Association.

On 27th October 2018, we hosted the first webinar in our fibroids self-care webinar series, Fibroids, Diet and Hormones. If you missed this webinar, we’re happy to say that the recording is now available.

In this first webinar we were delighted to have guest speaker, Le’Nise Brothers who is a Registered Nutritional Therapist and the Founder of Eat Love Move.  Le’Nise delivered a comprehensive, in-depth, informative presentation which you can download here. This 1-hour presentation includes:

• An introduction to fibroids including the types of fibroids, symptoms, risk factors and how fibroids are diagnosed as well as advice on getting the most out of your doctor’s appointment
• The causes of the continual growth of fibroids
• Balancing your hormones as an effective way of managing fibroids
• How you can take control and balance your hormones through diet and nutrition, lifestyle changes, physical support, stress management and emotional support

This is an excellent, empowering webinar that provides practical information that you can easily apply to your day-to-day routine to alleviate your symptoms and  successfully manage fibroids.

How to Access the Recording

To purchase and download this webinar, please do the following:

1.  Visit the webinar product page here
2. Click ‘Add to cart’
3. Follow all the instructions
4. Once you click ‘Place order’ you will have unlimited download access to the webinar.
5. After you make payment ($15), you simply click the blue button under “Download” and you’ll be taken to DropBox where you can watch the recording directly or you can click ‘Download’ at the top right of the screen to save the file to your computer or your DropBox to watch later.

If you have any problems downloading the recording, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us by email events@lakehealthandwellbeing.com 

What  Attendees Had to Say About this Session

“I enjoyed the webinar today. Learned a lot. Thank you Le’nise for sharing your wisdom, it was very informative.”

“Great Webinar. Thanks very much Le’Nise and Abi.”

“This was a great webinar!”

“I didn’t want it to end!”

Upcoming Webinar

You may also be interested in the next webinar in our series which is on fibroids treatment. We’re delighted to have Consultant Gynaecologist, Apryll Chase, discussing all the treatment options for fibroids, their pros and cons and how to make the sometimes difficult decision of selecting the best treatment for you. You can find out more about this webinar here

Further Information

If you’d like more information or have any questions, please don’t hesitate to send us an email, we’d love to hear from you.

On 1^st November, we attended the national consultation on the impact of sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs). This event was organised by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) as an early step towards the development of the nation’s strategy for reducing the public’s consumption of SSBs.

The Ministry’s strategy for SSBs forms just a small part of their non-communicable disease (NCD) prevention plan which outlines actions that are needed to create a healthy environment and promote exercise.

Speakers Set the Scene

During the consultation we heard from an excellent panel of speakers which included:

• Mrs Delores Stapleton-Harris, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health
• Hon Wendy Phipps, Minister of State with Responsibility for Health, Community Development, Social Services and Gender Affairs
• Dr Godrey Xuereb, PAHO/WHO Representative for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean
• Dr Keisha Liddie, District Medical Officer
• Dr Lisa Powell, Professor and Director of Health Policy and Administration, School of Public Health, University of Illinois
• Dr Marissa Carty, NCD Coordinator, Ministry of Health

Together the panel outlined the need for the development of a strategy on SSBs, reminding the audience that in St Kitts and Nevis NCDs, such as diabetes, cancer, heart disease and high blood pressure, are a major health challenge with 83% of deaths in the Federation being attributed to these conditions.

Hon Phipps described how NCDs are not only a threat to the health of the nation but are a significant socio-economic issue. Whilst Dr Xuereb provided information on the need for a SSB policy stating that it is just one of many strategies to improve the health of a nation and help countries achieve the sustainable development goal (SDG) on health. He stated that in order to achieve the SDG on health it is important to focus on improving the health of children as currently, in the Caribbean, childhood obesity is very common and is a major factor in children developing NCDs. He explained that what is driving NCDs is the increased consumption of sugar, and the major source of sugar is SSBs – SSBs make up 40% of children’s sugar intake with 70% of children in the Caribbean drinking one or more SSBs per day. He stated that data from Barbados, Mexico and Chile has shown that increasing the cost of SSBs through taxation has reduced the consumption of SSBs and therefore this is an effective strategy in tackling NCDs.

We also heard from Dr Keisha Liddie who presented a very in-depth and comprehensive situational analysis of St Kitts and Nevis. Dr Liddie described the data and trends for NCDs in the Federation showing the increase in the incidence of specific NCDs year on year and their impact on the nation. Finally, Dr Powell explored the economics, practicalities and important considerations when introducing a tax on SSBs and provided a number of recommendations which included:

• Implement a 20% SSB tax
• Include all forms of SSBs in the taxation strategy e.g: soda, energy drinks, sports drinks, fruit drinks, sweetened teas/coffees, sweetened water and beverage powders/syrups). Exclude zero calorie beverages
• Apply the tax to all imported and domestically produced SSBs
• Earmark the tax revenue for public health initiatives with an emphasis on nutrition and physical activity
• Carry out public awareness and education to inform the public about the SSB tax and its objectives
• Ban the sale of SSBs in schools
• Ban the sale of SSBs in hospitals and government buildings
• Regulate the marketing of SSBs in and around schools
• Develop a drinking water infrastructure in schools that provide reusable water bottles to school children
• Provide local agricultural products as snacks in schools
• Promote the implementation of school gardens as a learning tool and to improve access to fruits and vegetables
• Explore appropriate sponsors for youth sports that align with the objectives of improving health
• Provide funding to increase activity spaces

St Kitts and Nevis’ Proposed Approach to SSBs 

Dr Marissa Carty outlined the Ministry’s initial ideas on their approach to reducing the consumption of SSBs and gave the audience the opportunity to provide feedback on all the policy areas. The Ministry’s proposed policy imperatives include:

• A 40% tax on SSBs (update: the proposed tax is now 32%)
• The tax will apply to calorically sweetened beverages including carbonated drinks (sodas), sweetened carbonated water, sugar sweetened juices, sports drinks, energy drinks, tea and coffee drinks, sweetened milk/milk alternatives, milk powdered blended drinks, powdered drink mixes and drink mix syrups
• Sugar would no longer be zero rated when it comes to tax
• Excluded from the tax would be: fresh fruit juice (no sugar added), unsweetened milk/milk alternatives, infused water, unsweetened carbonated drinks and non-caloric sweetened drinks
• Alternatives to SSBs will be suggested to the public. These would include: fruit/vegetable infused water unsweetened water, plain water, unsweetened carbonated water, unsweetened herbal (bush) tea and artificially non-caloric sweetened beverages
• The tax revenue will be used to provide: a water infrastructure, water fountains in schools, reusable water bottles in schools, healthier school meals, public health campaigns, National Health Insurance, implementing a marketing ban to children and policy development for safe school zones.

Our Thoughts

We 100% support the government’s approach to SSBs as there is a need to tackle childhood obesity in St Kitts and Nevis and by reducing SSB consumption this can be achieved.

We believe a 40% (or 32%) tax is sufficiently high enough to deter consumption of all SSBs, anything lower than this could lead to consumers simply replacing expensive SSBs for more affordable SSBs. There was some evidence of this in Barbados where the tax is 10% and this suggested that this level of taxation wasn’t high enough to deter consumers from buying the lower priced SSBs.

We think it is important that the revenue raised from the SSB tax should fund public health initiatives particularly those that are aimed at childhood obesity and so we applaud the Ministry’s suggestions on the use of the tax revenue. We would also like to see the tax revenue being used to make healthy foods more affordable to ensure that parents and guardians don’t encounter any barriers to adopting healthy eating practices. It is also important for there to be full transparency on the expenditure of the tax revenue so that the public can be confident that the funds have been used to benefit the public’s health.

Next Steps

The Ministry of Health will collate the feedback received from this consultation as well as the consultation conducted in Nevis and continue to engage with key stakeholders to develop their SSB policy. This will then have to be approved by Cabinet.

We look forward to seeing this policy develop and will support the Ministry in any way that we can to see this policy developed, approved and implemented.

We are so pleased to let you know that registration for the second seminar in our Fibroids Self-Care Webinar Series is now open!

This second webinar will focus on treatment with the topic being ‘Deciding on the best treatment for you’ and  will be held on Saturday 1st December from 11am -1pm AST (that’s 3pm-5pm GMT or  10am-12pm US Eastern Time).

In this second webinar we are delighted to have as a guest speaker award-winning Consultant Gynaecologist Apryll Chase who will take participants through the treatment options for fibroids, the pros and cons of each treatment and how to make the sometimes difficult decision of selecting the best treatment for you.

Discounted Early Bird Tickets Are Now Available

Early bird tickets for this webinar are now available and are just $10 (about £8) and you can book your tickets on our website here

We Have A Special Giveaway Just For You

We’re pleased to let you know that all those who register for this webinar will be entered into a giveaway and one lucky person will win a copy of the book ‘Flow Fighter – How I Kicked My Fibroids and Heavy Periods to the Curb’ by Holly Bridges.

There is more!  We’re happy to say that all registered attendees will be eligible for a 20% discount when they order hair or body products from  Almocado and will also receive a  free shipping code from  Afrocenchix on any orders of over £20.

Other Webinars in this Series

Other webinars in the series will include:

Session 3: The Importance of Exercise, Relaxation and Me-Time, Candice Bryan, Founder and CEO, Noire Wellness, 23rd February 2019

Session 4: Hair and Body Care for Women With Fibroids, Rachael and Jocelyn, Founders of Afrocenchix, April 2019 (To be confirmed)

Session 5: Dealing with the Emotional Impact of Fibroids, Olivia Haltman, Founder, OH Services, June 2019

Session 6: Our Fibroids Stories – A Time to Share, August 2019

More Information 

We hope that you’ll join us on 1st Decemeber for this really interesting online event and if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at events@lakehealthandwellbeing.com and you can book your place here

Did you miss the first webinar in our series: Fibroids, Diet and Hormones with guest speaker Le’Nise Brothers,  Registered Nutritional Therapist and the Founder of Eat Love Move?

Have no fear, you can download and purchase the recording of this webinar for just $15 and you’ll have on-demand access to this in-depth session on fibroids, diet and hormones which guides you through the changes that you can make to improve your hormonal health and therefore alleviate the symptoms associated with fibroids. Find out more and download this webinar here

Following the launch of Caribbean Moves, a new initiative based on the successful Jamaica Moves campaign, the Ministry of Health and Wellness in Barbados launched their Barbados Moves campaign.

The launch took place on 20^th October 2018 and was led by Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Bostic, Barbados’ Minister of Health and Wellness. In attendance was Dr Christopher Tufton Jamaica’s health minister, who said:

‘Caribbean Moves’ is an attempt to mobilise the region one country at a time, and one person at a time through taking personal responsibility for your health and by doing the things that are responsible for a healthy life.

“Finally, it’s about uniting the Caribbean through one message, one method, one approach and by extension strengthening us as a people.”

Barbados Moves will form the island’s national approach to tackling non-communicable diseases and will focus on three key areas, similar to Jamaica Moves,  which are physical activity, healthy eating and knowing your health status.

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Image Credit: Barbados Moves (Instagram)

Hey everyone, we’re just stopping by the blog quickly to say a big big thank you to everyone who supported our My Haircare Nightmare crowdfunding campaign. We really appreciate all your support and although we didn’t meet our target we were overwhelmed by all your kind words and encouragement – thank you!

Not only did we get some lovely emails and messages on social media, the media also picked up on our campaign and really got behind it. You can view some of the media coverage below:

• African Voice: Documentary to reveal effects of hair products in black women
• Black Hair Magazine:  Author Tola Okogwu launches campaign to kickstart black haircare documentary
• Natural Hair Weekly: My Haircare Nightmare
• Ariatu Public Relations:  Are Hair Products for Black Women Safe
• FabAfriq: Are Hair Products for Black Women Safe?
• The Voice Newspaper:  Support This Documentary
• Afrocks: Interview Of Blogger, Writer And Hair Coach Tola Okogwu Who Is Crowdfunding To create Documentary About Hair Products For Black Women

In case you missed our crowd funding campaign, we’ve teamed up with Tola Okogwu of My Long Hair Journey and filmmaker Sheila Marshall to answer the question: Are Black Hair Care Products Safe? Through a documentary we aim to highlight the recent research which showed that 80% of black hair products tested contain endocrine disrupting chemicals and ingredients linked to asthma. Although we haven’t raised all the funds we need just yet, we’re still fired up and ready to turn our dream into reality and are exploring other funding opportunities.

We’ll keep you informed of our next steps and for those of you who donated, your perks will be with you in due course.

Have a great week!

On 27^th September 2018, Caribbean leaders hosted a breakfast meeting at the UN High Level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in New York. The theme for this meeting was “Moving the Caribbean Towards Healthier Lives – Step It Up!”

Chaired by Dr Timothy Harris,  the Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis, leaders used this meeting to announce the launch of Caribbean Moves, an initiative that aims to re-energise health promotion efforts across the Caribbean through creative  and innovative partnerships.

Caribbean leaders recognised that progress has been made in tackling NCDs but with the Caribbean’s mortality rate for NCDs being the highest in the Americas, a more coordinated approach is needed. Caribbean Moves aims to achieve this.

Caribbean Moves will build on the very successful Jamaica Moves campaign which focuses on physical activity, healthy eating and age appropriate health checks.  The Jamaica Moves campaign is led by Dr Christopher Tufton, Jamaica’s Minister of Health, who is a very active participant in the Jamaica Moves campaign. He said of Caribbean Moves:

“This programme is intended to scale up the efforts of ongoing national programmes for increasing physical activity and healthy eating across the Caribbean. Among other things, Caribbean Moves will galvanise countries under one vision but each countries project will be unique fostering a cultural and social movement for regular physical activity within the Caribbean.”

Over the next few months a secretariat will be established for the Caribbean Moves initiative and their remit will be to develop an implementation schedule, coordinate activities and strengthen existing work in the Caribbean Region.

We look forward to seeing the Caribbean Moves initiative develop and are currently working on our own efforts to tackle NCDs in St Kitts and Nevis through a new piece of work  we are undertaking with the FIT Wellness Centre in Nevis. More information about this project will be available soon.

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Picture Credit: CARICOM

After the success of their first Fibroids Wellness Hub in November 2017, Noire Wellness will be back on Sunday 25^th November at Brent Hub in North London from 11am to 6pm for their second annual Fibroids Series Wellness Hub.

This will be an empowering and informative day that aims to support women living with fibroids. Atttendees will be able to attend a variety of workshops and live demonstrations that all aim to provide women with fibroids with information and practical advice on how to manage their symptoms and thus reduce the effects of fibroids.

The event will feature the following:

Wisdom Wonders where you can gain valuable insight into areas often ignored when living with health conditions. Explore the use of yoni eggs as part of womb health; discuss the emotional impacts of fibroids with the support of sisters. Here you will get the opportunity to explore more with speakers during a special drop-in clinic and a panel discussion at the end of the day.

Nature’s Lab. Here attendees can learn about a variety of foods that give you the nutrients you need to maintain your health, feel good and have energy whilst living with fibroids.

A Mindful Zone. This will help you focus your awareness on the present moment, through a series of gentle activities. Here you’ll discover workshops centred on breathing to eliminate stress; sound healing and meditation for practical lessons to use at home; and a yoga session focussed on movement to help reduce pain and increase energy flow.

A Rejuvenation Lounge.  Where you can take some time out during the day and indulge in treatments offered by Tanya Kay Beauty Lifestyle including a back massage and a foot and leg massage.

If you have been affected by fibroids, this event is not to be missed. For more information please visit the event web page here

On  Tuesday 8^th October 2018,  the Pan American Health Organization/ World Health Organization in collaboration with the Ministry of Health organised a workshop at the National ICT Centre in St Kitts. The workshop was part of PAHO’s regional consultation to inform their Strategy and Action Plan on Health Promotion in the Context of the Sustainable Development Goals (2019 – 2030).

We were invited to attend this event along with representatives from a diversity of organisations across St Kitts. Similar events have been held across the Caribbean and the Americas, and the data collected will allow PAHO to recover information, lessons learnt and gain perspectives that will contribute to the construction of their new strategy.  The aim is to renew health promotion through a social, political and technical movement, addressing the determinants of health as a path towards sustainable development and towards reducing health inequities.

The objectives of the national consultation are:

• To involve the countries in the construction of the Strategy and Plan of Action on Health Promotion for the revitalization of the movement in the Region.
• To identify key elements that the Strategy and Plan of Action must include to support the countries on the positioning of Health Promotion.
• To collect the Health Promotion experiences in the countries that contribute to the Strategy and Plan of Action.
• To identify the role of actors involved for the implementation of the Strategy and Plan of Action.
• To support the countries in the renewal of the Health Promotion movement with the identification of a lead group at the national level.

Those attending the workshops participated in discussions on four key areas:
1. Settings and local action
2. Intersectoral work, social determinants of health, Health in all policies, and public policies
3. Community participation and social participation for Health
4. Health systems and services

The above discussion points were based on important health promotion concepts as outlined by the Ottawa Charter of 1986 for Health Promotion.

Going forward the Ministry of Health in St Kitts will summarise the information from this event and PAHO will add this to the data collected from all countries taking part in the consultation. They will then analyse the data, identity common themes and important approaches and include these in the draft strategy which will be circulated for comment before a final strategy is published in September 2019.

We would like to thank the Ministry of Health in St Kitts for inviting us to take part in this consultation and look forward to seeing the draft and final strategy when they are made available in 2019.

We do hope that the information collected as part of this consultation will provide PAHO with the information required to develop an effective strategy that supports the needs of each country in the Americas.