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Category: Blog

January 29, 2022

No Amount of Alcohol is Good For Us

Many of us grew up with the notion that a small amount of red wine is good for the heart and can decrease our risk of developing heart disease, but a new policy brief published by the World Heart Federation (WHF) has corrected this myth.

In their brief, the WHF highlights the mounting evidence that has led to the fairly recent conclusion by global health researchers and the World Health Organisation that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption; any level of alcohol consumption affects our health.

In recent years, researchers have shown that alcohol consumption is linked to an increased risk of developing non-communicable diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, digestive diseases, and intentional and unintentional injuries and some communicable diseases. Additionally, consuming even small amounts of alcohol can increase our risk of stroke, heart failure, coronary disease and other cardiovascular diseases.

If alcohol is so harmful to our health, then how did many of us come to believe that alcohol is beneficial to the health of our heart? The WHF’s policy brief explains that over the past thirty years some researchers, the alcohol industry and the media have been aggressively promoting the misleading message that alcohol can prolong life by reducing our risk of cardiovascular disease, with them pushing that red wine, in particular, is a heart-healthy beverage because of its resveratrol content and other alcoholic beverages are heart-healthy because of their high-density lipoprotein ( HDL) content. The WHF policy brief explains that these claims have now been refuted with high-quality research that shows the many negative health outcomes of consuming any amount of alcohol.

As part of their policy brief the WHF is calling for stricter alcohol restrictions and are specifically recommending the following with regards to advocating for change:

Advocate for the adoption of WHO’s SAFER Guidelines
Call for strict regulation of alcohol products
Advocate for minimum pricing of alcohol products
Build capacity internally and among peers to promote cessation of alcohol use and abstinence from alcohol
Promote community, national, and global best practices and materials, such as the PAHO “Live better, drink less” campaign, and advocate for their uptake
Communicate evidence on the harms of alcohol use, including the clear messages that no level of alcohol is safe and alcohol consumption increases the risk of CVD
Prioritise alcohol control in national agendas for health and support policy coherence between health and other sectors
Facilitate screening for the use of alcohol and other substances as a part of risk mitigation during the health assessment of individuals visiting a health care centre
Set the example of non-collaboration with the alcohol industry and/or its public relations groups.

We applaud the WHF on publishing this policy brief and dispelling a very pervasive and harmful myth about alcohol. We hope that everyone – policymakers and the public- acts on this information and works towards eliminating the consumption of alcohol. From our point of view, we encourage healthy drinking and recommend that everyone select water as their drink of choice and both reduce their sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and abstain from alcohol.

For more information, you can read the WHF policy brief here and you can find out about our healthy drinking campaign, You’re Sweet Enough here.

By admin

BlogDietYou're Sweet Enough

January 13, 2022

The Role of Artists in Promoting Healthy Habits

On 1^st January 2022, popular soca artist Patrice Roberts released the video for her new song, Mind Your Business. We listened with great interest when the song started and we heard the catchy chorus of ‘Drink Water and Mind Your Business’ and thought with pleasant surprise: ‘Wow! Now that’s different!’

For us, this song was well-timed because, for the past year, we have been running a public health campaign entitled ‘You’re Sweet Enough.’ This campaign aims to educate the public about the health impact of consuming too many sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) as research has shown that the overconsumption of these types of beverages is linked to weight gain, obesity and the development of non-communicable diseases like type 2 diabetes, heart diseases and hypertension.

A major part of our campaign focuses on encouraging the public to reduce their SSB consumption and to drink water instead. And, in order to encourage this behaviour change, we have explored various avenues including composing a catchy jingle, utilising animation, hosting public engagement events and advocating for evidence-based health policies that have been shown to be effective at reducing the public’s consumption of SSBs; policies such as an SSB tax, restricting the sale and marketing of SSBs in and around schools and front of package warning labels. Whilst this all-encompassing approach is making a difference, we are competing with the high volume of marketing of unhealthy foods and beverages, and there is a need to see how these messages can be balanced with more healthy lifestyle messages in mainstream media. In the Caribbean region, one way to do this is to use music to reach a wide audience as music, particularly soca music, is ingrained in our culture.

Therefore, through our jingle, we worked with local artist Dejour, who provided the vocals for our jingle, to help amplify our campaign message in a fun and engaging way. Through music, we were able to reach all age groups and genders, and we were able to extend the message further through dance. In essence, we were able to link a positive health message to ‘coolness’ and, through our ‘catchy’ jingle, the healthy drinking message of our campaign was remembered by our audience with members of the public anecdotally reporting that they remembered the jingle when they were making beverage purchases or they sang the jingle to their children to encourage them to select water.

In order to build on this success, we need more positive health messages in the mainstream that amplify our healthy drinking message. Enter: ‘Drink Water and Mind You Business’ by Patrice Roberts.

As mentioned previously, we were very surprised, and pleasantly so, by Patrice Roberts’ new song. We were surprised because, historically, when we explore the messages of mainstream music, when it comes to lifestyle habits, the messages predominantly promote unhealthy behaviours. Specifically, when we look at drinking messages in music, many songs promote the consumption, and most times, the overconsumption of alcohol. For example, a study conducted by the Boston School of Public Health reviewed 720 songs from Billboard Magazine’s year-end charts from 2009 to 2011 and found that 23% of songs mentioned alcohol and that urban music (rap, hip hop and R&B – the genres of music that we are more likely to listen to in the Caribbean) had the highest percentage of alcohol mentions, with 38% of these songs referencing alcohol. Additionally, when looking at Caribbean music, a Guyanese study reported that 37% of Guyanese chutney songs contain references to alcohol. Music is a powerful influential tool and research has shown that songs containing references to alcohol have a direct impact on the public’s alcohol consumption.

With this being said, we can see that music artists have an important role to play when it comes to promoting healthy habits. Through responsible songwriting and music video creation, they can positively influence the behaviour of their fans and improve their health and wellbeing. Let’s take a look at Patrice Roberts’ new song as an example. Since 1^st January 2022, this song has garnered almost half a million views on YouTube and since this time Patrice Roberts has been encouraging her fans to drink water and stay hydrated.

Patrice Roberts’ fans, in turn, have responded positively and have stated that, indeed, they too will be drinking more water this year in direct response to this new song.

“Imma sit back, drink water And mind my business!!”

“For de New Year I gon drink water and mind my business.”

“Water is life…..drinking water and minding my business.”

“Water (check), minding my business (been doing that all my life). Sounds about right to me. Great song!”

It’s early days and this isn’t too scientific, but we can see from a quick perusal of Patrice Roberts’ social media platforms that the song has had a large reach, has acted as a reminder to her fans to select water as their drink of choice this year and has created an intention amongst her fans to drink more water.

As the year progresses, we hope that more artists will make the decision to promote healthy habits amongst their fan base as for too long the music industry has glamourised negative behaviour.

References

Engels RC, Slettenhaar G, ter Bogt T, Scholte RH. Effect of alcohol references in music on alcohol consumption in public drinking places. Am J Addict. 2011 Nov-Dec;20(6):530-4. doi: 10.1111/j.1521-0391.2011.00182.x. PMID: 21999498.

Sanchara N (2016). The glamorization of alcohol in contemporary Guyanese Chutney Music. Accessed on 12^th January 2022 from http://guyfolkfest.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Nadine-Sanchara-Glamorization-of-Alcohol-in-Contempoary-Guyanese-Chutney-Music.pdf

Siegel M, Johnson RM, Tyagi K, Power K, Lohsen MC, Ayers AJ, Jernigan DH. Alcohol brand references in U.S. popular music, 2009-2011. Subst Use Misuse. 2013 Dec;48(14):1475-84. doi: 10.3109/10826084.2013.793716. Epub 2013 Aug 23. PMID: 23971875; PMCID: PMC3830686.

By admin

DietYou're Sweet Enough

December 22, 2021

Christmas Health Tips

We were delighted to join the In Ya Kitchen team, and members of the St Kitts Health Promotion Unit and Nevis School Meals Programme to share a few health tips to brighten the holidays. Check out this fun, informative video below.

By admin

Health Policy

December 17, 2021

Health Minister announces SSB Policy for 2022

During national budget presentations in the St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly on December 15, 2021, Hon. Akilah Byron-Nisbett, Minister of Health et al. announced that the implementation of a Sugar-Sweetened Beverage (SSB) Policy is on the agenda for 2022.

In her presentation, the Minister of Health listed a few initiatives that the government intends to undertake as part of plans for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the new fiscal year. Plans include the reactivation of the local NCD Commission, the implementation of the national SSB Policy and a Tobacco Control Act.

The Minister reported that improvements have been made in reducing the incidences and impact of NCDs in the federation. She notes that “epidemiological statistics have revealed that over the period 2015 to 2020…the number of deaths associated with diabetes and high blood pressure are notably trending downwards”. The average mortality data for NCD related deaths is reported to have decreased from 83% to 63% within the stated period.

View and listen to the excerpt clip below broadcasting the Minister of Health’s budget presentation on all plans to combat NCDs as part of the 2022 public health agenda.

By admin

BlogYou're Sweet Enough

December 7, 2021

Dance Competition Winners

On 4th December 2021, we hosted a virtual event to announce the winners of the You’re Sweet Enough School Dance Competition.

This competition was a collaboration with the Curriculum Development Unit of the Ministry of Education in St. Kitts, and participants had to learn the official You’re Sweet Enough dance, record themselves performing the dance to the You’re Sweet Enough jingle and then upload the recording to the competition’s webpage for a public vote.

We were absolutely delighted with the engagement from schools. We received 28 entries and were so impressed with the creativity, video editing and enthusiasm of all those who entered the competition. Additionally, they were very effective at communicating the message of the jingle of encouraging everyone to reduce their sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and to drink water instead.

The winners of the competition are listed below and you can watch a recording of our short winners’ announcement event below too.

By admin

BlogYou're Sweet Enough

November 30, 2021

Youth Parliament Debates SSB Policy

On November 29, 2021 as part of the annual mock parliament sitting, the St. Kitts National Youth Parliament Association (SKNYPA) debated a resolution to adopt a national sugar-sweetened beverage policy. The debate took place in parliament chambers and followed formal protocols of government business according to the standing orders of the National Assembly.

The resolution to adopt a national SSB Policy was tabled by the government benches and spoke to the following initiatives:

Implementing a 30% excise Sugary Beverage Tax (SBT) on all non-alcoholic SSBs;
Conducting multi-sectoral research studies to assess the impact of the SBT on sales and consumption of SSBs;
Restricting the sale and advertising of all SSBs at hospitals, health centres and school cafeterias and canteens;
Creating healthy schools zones by prohibiting the sale of SSBs within a designated radius of school premises;
Launching public awareness campaigns to sensitize communities, and
Allocating portions of the earned tax revenue to create, support and develop nutrition and physical activity-related programs.

While members of the opposition commended the objective of the resolution as an effort to combat NCDs and address rising rates of obesity among children and youth, debaters presented arguments for improving the policy, noting that approaches to implementation must be holistic. The opposition spoke to the interests of industry with special considerations for micro-business vendors, who ought to be consulted and engaged in the process of change to provide and sell healthier beverage alternatives.

The debate between sides was lively and concluded with the resolution being passed with a simple majority. To view the debate and hear the arguments presented, check out the video below.

By admin

BlogYou're Sweet Enough

November 15, 2021

An SSB Tax for SKN

In our latest episode of Sweet Talk, our Advocacy and Research Officer, Isalean Phillip has an interesting and informative discussion with Dr Marissa Carty, the NCD Coordinator at the Ministry of Health in St Kitts, about fiscal policies to tackle non-communicable diseases, specifically an SSB tax.

By admin

DietHealth Policy

October 23, 2021

Improving Nutrition Through Policy

From 11^th to 14^th October 2021, the Department of Nutrition and Food Safety of WHO and UNICEF hosted a week-long series of webinars that explored strategies for improving nutrition through bold actions in health and food systems.

Three of the webinars in this series aligned perfectly with the work that we’re doing to promote healthy drinking habits through our You’re Sweet Enough campaign, so we were delighted to attend to learn more about global approaches which could be applied to our local context here in St Kitts and Nevis.

The three webinars that we attended were:

Improving Diets Through Fiscal Policies
Improving Diets Through Labelling and Marketing Restrictions
Improving Nutrition in Children and Adolescents Through Comprehensive School-Bassed Policies and Programmes

In the first webinar we attended, Improving Diet Through Fiscal Policies, there was a focus on various fiscal measures to improve the diets of the public and thus improve the health of consumers. These measures included taxation of unhealthy products like sugar-sweetened beverages and subsidising healthy products. Taking us through the various measures were speakers from Mexico, South Africa, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Portugal who discussed the steps that their countries are taking particularly around the taxation of unhealthy foods. It was interesting to note that Saudi Arabia has introduced a sugar-sweetened beverage tax of 50% on sodas and 100% on energy drinks in order to tackle their very high rates of obesity and NCDs. These SSB tax rates are the highest SSB tax of the countries represented on the panel and have resulted in a significant reduction in purchases of SSBs showing that bold action with fiscal policies can be effective.

The second webinar we attended focused on labelling and marketing restrictions. This webinar featured speakers from Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Thailand, France, the UK and Chile who shared their experiences with front-of-package nutrition labelling (FOPL). Speakers touched on mandatory and voluntary approaches to front-of-package nutrition labelling and the effectiveness of FOPL in empowering consumers to easily assess the nutritional value of the foods they purchase. Additionally, speakers highlighted that the public has the right to know what is in their food and we are, currently, violating their human rights, but simple measures like labelling and restricting marketing of unhealthy foods can address this.

Finally, the third webinar we attended focused on creating a healthy school environment through comprehensive school-based policies and programmes. This was a very interesting session providing us with the opportunity to learn about projects being implemented by Ministries of Health and Education in Ghana, India and the Dominican Republic to improve the health and wellbeing of school children. These projects included measures such as providing nutritious meals in schools, health education, nutrition supplementation and disease prevention. Interesting questions were asked about how to reach children who are not in the school system and how to evaluate the impact of such programmes..

These webinars provided us with some good insight on the power of policy in improving the health of populations. In St Kitts and Nevis, the Government is currently working on developing a Federal SSB policy as part of their NCD Action Plan. This includes a collection of evidence-based approaches to reduce the public’s consumption of SSBs. We applaud the Ministry of Health for pushing forward with this policy and as part of our You’re Sweet Enough campaign we’re calling for:

A fiscal policy to reduce the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (an SSB tax)
The introduction of front-of-package warning labels so that consumers can easily and quickly identify products that are high in sugar as well as salt and unhealthy fats
The restriction of the sale and marketing of SSBs in and around schools

Through these actions, the Government can begin to address a major risk factor for NCDs and create a healthier environment.

We look forward to seeing the Government’s SSB policy finalized and encourage Cabinet to approve the Ministry of Health’s policy so that we can improve the health of our nation.

By admin

DietNon-Communicable Diseases (NCDs)You're Sweet Enough

October 2, 2021

Challenge Winners Announced

From 22^nd August to 5^th September 2021, we hosted a No Sugar-Sweetened Beverage (SSB), Drink Water Challenge in collaboration with St Kitts and Nevis Ministry of Health. This challenge was part of the Ministry of Health’s seven-week SKN Moves campaign and aimed to provide a fun way to encourage the public to make healthier beverage choices.

Over forty people registered to take part in the challenge and over the two weeks, they tracked their water consumption using a water tracking app and submitted videos and pictures sharing their progress. Additionally, we set up a WhatsApp group to allow participants to encourage each other and to build a small community around the challenge.

Our group of participants did a great job, remaining committed to the challenge and after reviewing their water tracking app submissions and calculating their water consumption over the two weeks, we selected three winners.

1^st Place (2103.3oz) Janesta Clarke
2^nd Place (1988.3oz) Patricia Harris
3^rd Place (1672.6oz) Bernard Maynard

Awards Ceremony

On Thursday 23^rd September, our winners were awarded a certificate and prizes from Hon. Akilah Bryon-Nisbett, the Minister for Health for St Kitts and Nevis, at the first annual SKN Moves Awards Ceremony.

In addition to our prize winners, other people were recognised for participating in other challenges that were organised over the seven-week SKN Moves campaign. These included:

The In Ya Kitchen Healthy Cooking Competition
Ready! Set! Sweat! Weight Loss Challenge
Chronic Disease Self-management Challenge
Corporate Wellness Challenge

We were delighted to attend this inaugural event to support our winners and also to hear speeches delivered by:

Dr. The Hon. Timothy Harris, Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis
Hon Akilah Byron-Nisbett, Minister for Health
Dr Marissa Carty, NCD Coordinator, Ministry of Health

All three speakers highlighted the government’s commitment to tackling NCDs with SKN Moves being just one part of their strategy. Now in its second year, the SKN Moves initiative aims to promote the prevention and control of NCDs through three core pillars: healthy eating, regular exercise and age-appropriate health checks. Furthermore, SKN Moves is part of a wider programme, Caribbean Moves, which aims to tackle the high rate of NCDs in the region through a collective approach. In addition to highlighting the SKN Moves campaign, speakers also discussed the Government’s efforts to tackle the overconsumption of sugar-sweetened beverages through their national SSB policy which is in its final stages of development.

We applaud the Ministry of Health for continuing to push forward with developing this policy which features a collection of evidence-based approaches to reduce the public’s consumption of SSBs. We look forward to seeing this policy finalized and implemented.

Thank you!

We would like to say a big thank you to everyone who took part in our No SSB, Drink Water challenge and congratulations to all our winners.

We would also like to thank the Ministry of Health’s Health Promotion Unit for inviting us to become a member of this year’s SKN Moves Committee and Open Interactive for sponsoring our orientation session for our challenge participants. We look forward to next year’s campaign.

By admin

Health Policy

September 23, 2021

WHO’s Food Policy Recommendations

On 21^st September 2021, the World Health Organisation hosted a virtual pre-launch of its six policy briefs on the actions that are required in the global food system to deliver better health and nutrition for everyone.

These briefs are part of WHO’s efforts to empower policymakers to develop effective interventions that improve the health of their nations and to tackle the growing rate of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). It is hoped that these resources, as well as a series of other resources which include guidance documents, implementation frameworks and tools to scale up action will support UN members in meeting global nutrition and NCD targets. Additionally, because of the connection between food systems and many global challenges like poverty, inequality, malnutrition and climate change, it is also hoped that these policy briefs will enable countries to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

During the virtual launch, WHO explained that their six new policy briefs focus on areas that are not new but are nevertheless important because they are known to be effective at promoting health, and the goal is to ensure that food systems are based on health, not profit and productivity.

It was also explained that the policy briefs are based on previous work conducted by WHO and its partners. Specifically, they build on a report on sustainable food systems which highlighted the five ways in which food systems can negatively affect the public’s health. These are depicted below and highlight the need for health to be at the centre of our global food system.

WHO's Policy Briefs

WHO’s new policy briefs cover:

Public food procurement to facilitate the provision of more nutritious foods in Government settings so that public schools, hospitals and other Government-funded organisations have access to healthy meals
Fiscal policy to shift the public’s behaviour towards healthy diets. These types of policies include taxes on unhealthy foods and drinks and subsidising healthy options
Regulation of marketing of unhealthy foods and drinks to children to shift their preferences to healthy foods
Nutrition labelling so that consumers can easily identify products that are high in sugar, salt and unhealthy fats and allow for informed purchases
Food fortification to make foods more nutritious
Food reformulation to reduce the salt, sugar and unhealthy fat content of food and beverages, and to eliminate trans-fat.

As explained in this event, policymakers can be confident in implementing the above-mentioned policies because these are long-standing approaches that have been proven to not only be effective, but cost-effective and scalable. Additionally, they have been endorsed and monitored by WHO.

What Does this Mean for St Kitts and Nevis

As St Kitts and Nevis looks to tackle its high rate of NCDs, the WHO policy briefs provide an evidence-based approach that our policymakers can easily adopt to create a healthy environment. As part of the Ministry of Health’s NCD Action Plan, several of the WHO’s six policy areas are already embedded into their strategy and all that is left is implementation.

Currently, we know that NCDs are the biggest health challenge that St Kitts and Nevis faces so urgent action is needed to reduce the prevalence of NCDs and our high rate of NCD-related death and disability.

We hope with this greenlight from the WHO through these new policy briefs, the Government of St Kitts and Nevis will be more likely to introduce these healthy food policies.

What Are We Doing?

On 17^th September 2021, as part of our You’re Sweet Enough campaign, we joined local and regional civil society organisations (CSOs) to write to all members of the St Kitts and Nevis Parliament to call for the introduction of evidence-based food policies to tackle the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs).

Due to the very high level of sugar in SSBs, their regular consumption has been linked to weight gain and obesity, and being overweight or obese increases a person’s risk of developing non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and some types of cancer.

Research has shown that 45% of adults and 26% of children in St Kitts and Nevis are obese, and this is contributing to the high rate of NCDs in the Federation. By reducing SSB consumption, we can reduce a major source of sugar in our diets, and this can lead to a reduction in NCD risk.

Specifically, our letter focused on three policy areas, all of which align with the WHO’s new policy briefs.

A fiscal policy to reduce the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (an SSB tax)
The introduction of front-of-package warning labels so that consumers can easily and quickly identify products that are high in sugar as well as salt and unhealthy fats
The restriction of the sale and marketing of SSBs in and around schools

Through these actions, the Government can begin to address a major risk factor for NCDs and create a healthier environment. We look forward to the Government’s response and hope that action will be taken.

By admin

Contacts

Category: Blog

No Amount of Alcohol is Good For Us

The Role of Artists in Promoting Healthy Habits

References

Christmas Health Tips

Health Minister announces SSB Policy for 2022

Dance Competition Winners

Youth Parliament Debates SSB Policy

An SSB Tax for SKN

Improving Nutrition Through Policy

Challenge Winners Announced

Awards Ceremony

Thank you!

WHO’s Food Policy Recommendations

WHO's Policy Briefs

What Does this Mean for St Kitts and Nevis

What Are We Doing?

Contact Us

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