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Bird Rock, St Kitts, St Kitts and Nevis, West Indies

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Blog

Category: Blog

Fibroids and Mental Health
FibroidsOH Services
August 2, 2021

Fibroids and Mental Health Webinar

On Saturday 31st July 2021, we were delighted to host a webinar on fibroids and mental health. This webinar was part of our Fibroids Awareness Month event series which aimed to empower women living with fibroids with information on how to manage the impact of fibroids.  

A very important issue for women living with fibroids is managing the mental and emotional impact of fibroids. Therefore, we invited Olivia Haltman, an accredited counsellor from OH Counselling Services, to help attendees identify, understand and address the many ways that fibroids can affect a woman’s emotions and mental health. 

This session also explored how women can heal and successfully navigate the challenges that living with fibroids may present.

If you missed this session, you can watch the recording below.

By admin
Fibroids and Exercise Web
Fibroids
July 28, 2021

Fibroids and Exercise Webinar

On Saturday 24th July 2021, we hosted a webinar on fibroids and exercise. This webinar was part of our Fibroids Awareness Month event series which aims to empower women living with fibroids with information on the lifestyle changes that may alleviate their symptoms and improve their overall health and wellbeing.

In this session,  we explored the power of exercise in managing fibroids symptoms. We discussed whether exercise can be beneficial in managing fibroids symptoms and we looked at some simple, low-impact exercises that women can easily try at home through fun demonstrations of barre, yoga and other exercises. 

Speakers included: 

  • Abi Begho, Founder, Lake Health and Wellbeing; 
  • Davina Baptiste, Certified Wellness Coach;
  • Jayshree Thokal,  Qualified Yoga Instructor; and
  • Michelle Sutton, Health and Wellness Specialist.

If you missed this webinar, you can watch the recording below.

 

Our next webinar will be held on Saturday 31st July 2021 at 11am AST. This webinar will focus on fibroids and mental health.

In this webinar,  Olivia Haltman, an accredited counsellor, will help women identify, understand and address the many ways that fibroids can affect a woman’s mental health. 

We’ll empower women with the tools they need to improve their emotional wellbeing and successfully navigate the challenges that living with fibroids may present – these include managing and dealing with debilitating symptoms,  fertility issues,  tensions within relationships and the challenges that having fibroids may create in work, home and social settings. 

This is a free webinar.  You can register here

By admin
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Fibroids
July 19, 2021

Fibroids, Diet and Hormones Webinar

July is Fibroids Awareness Month and we’re delighted to be hosting a series of webinars especially for women in St Kitts and Nevis. These events are aimed at informing and empowering women affected by fibroids by providing practical and useful guidance to enable women to take control of their health and wellbeing.

Our series includes three webinars focusing on diet, hormones, exercise and emotional wellbeing.

On 17th July, we were delighted to host a webinar on fibroids, diet and hormones. Led by Davina Baptiste,  a Certified Wellness Coach, this webinar explored the role that hormones play in the development of fibroids and how by making simple changes to their diet, women with fibroids may be able to alleviate their symptoms and thus improve their health and wellbeing.

This was a very comprehensive and informative webinar and if you missed it, you can watch the recording below. 

By admin
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BlogYou're Sweet Enough
July 8, 2021

We Speak at HCC’s Conference

The Healthy Caribbean Coalition (HCC) hosted a virtual conference on July 1, 2021. The conference was packed with interesting and informative panel presentations that aligned with the conference theme “Our Food, Our Health, Our People: Accelerating Healthy Food Policies to Tackle NCDs”. Participants learned from academics, legal experts, public health officials, health practitioners, youth advocates, and representatives from the CARICOM NCD Commission, FAO, and PAHO. Sessions covered topics around shaping our Caribbean food supply systems for healthier environments, improving food system governance by managing conflicts of interest and shaping people-centered movements for change.

Even though it was a virtual conference, participants had the opportunity to interact online and to get moving at home during scheduled health breaks that incorporated music, dance and guided breathing and mindfulness exercises, all of which were helpful activities to stay focused throughout the day.

 

During the lunch break, Abi Begho, Director at Lake Health and Wellbeing, facilitated a lunchtime conversation about the power of digital advocacy for healthier food environments, based on lessons learned from implementing the You’re Sweet Enough campaign. Digital platforms like social media are increasingly being used by various stakeholders to reach the public. As civil society organizations, we are learning to adapt and find innovative ways to amplify messages that sensitize the public and call policymakers to action as we advocate for healthier food policies and programs. From the conversation, we learned how social media can be strategically leveraged to target different audiences, we see how short video clips and animations are powerful and effective at communicating key messages, and we are encouraged to be consistent in posting and sharing content so that the scope and reach of our advocacy can be extended and amplified.

Check out the video clip below to view the Lunchtime Conversation on the Power of Digital Advocacy.

By admin
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DietYou're Sweet Enough
July 1, 2021

Secrets of Sugar Film Screening

As part of our You’re Sweet Enough campaign we hosted a virtual screening of the documentary The Secrets of Sugar. This documentary exposes research results that reveal the shocking truth about sugar that the sugar industry has been hiding from consumers. You can watch this documentary below: 

Following the screening, our founder, Abi Begho, and our Advocacy and Research Officer, Isalean Phillip, had an engaging discussion about the issues raised in this documentary including the food and beverage industry’s role in the obesity crisis and approaches to reducing the public’s consumption of sugar.

 

By admin
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DietUncategorizedYou're Sweet Enough
June 28, 2021

Healthy Alternatives to SSBs

We had a fun time partnering with In Ya Kitchen and the St. Kitts Health Promotion Unit to create some tasty, easy to make unsweetened beverages as part of our You’re Sweet Enough campaign.

Check out the videos below to learn how to make a Mango Mystique and a Monkey Chaser. Try them out and let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Mango Mystique

Monkey Chaser

By admin
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DietYou're Sweet Enough
June 18, 2021

Sweetened Beverages Webinar

On Saturday 12 June 2021, we teamed up with Black History Walks to host a webinar entitled the Dangers of Sweetened Beverages in the African Diaspora. This event was part of Black History Walks’ event series in conjunction with the UCL Sarah Parker Remond Centre.

The webinar was moderated by Abi Begho, the Founder of Lake Health and Wellbeing and speakers included:

This event provided us with the opportunity to extend our reach beyond the shores of the Caribbean Sea and connect with the Caribbean community in the UK. This connection to the Caribbean is an important one because our communities have the same health concerns. In the Caribbean, we are faced with an NCD epidemic. PAHO reports that 78% of all deaths in the Caribbean are due to NCDs and 76% of all premature deaths are caused by these diseases1. The rates of NCDs across the Caribbean are high with type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cancer and stroke being the most common NCDs. In the UK, the African diaspora community, which includes communities with connections to Africa and the Caribbean, face the same health challenges. The Black community in the UK, have higher rates of type 2 diabetes, some cancers and hypertension than their white counterparts2,3. Additionally, they are more likely to be diagnosed with these conditions at a later stage and therefore have poorer outcomes.

Some of the factors fuelling the high rates of NCDs on both sides of the Atlantic are physical inactivity, unhealthy diets, harmful use of alcohol and tobacco use. To tackle NCDs, we have to encourage behaviour change that encourages people to adopt a healthy lifestyle. Through our You’re Sweet Enough campaign we’re focusing on one aspect of the public’s lifestyle, healthy drinking.

Research has shown that the food we eat and the drinks we consume contribute to increasing our risk of developing NCDs. Specifically, sweetened beverages (SBs). These types of drinks have been linked to unhealthy weight gain and obesity, which are associated with NCDs. This is because of their very high sugar content. Hence, our campaign encourages the public to reduce their consumption of SBs and to select water instead.

This webinar was part of our drive to educate the public about the harms of SBs. We also used this opportunity to highlight the challenges that the public health community faces when implementing strategies to reduce SB consumption and examples of successful approaches. This event was very well received by participants, with there being a high level of engagement throughout the event with the chat and Q&A being very lively.

We’d like to say a big thank you to Black History Walk and the Sarah Parker Remond Centre for giving us the opportunity to raise awareness of this important issue. We would also like to thank all those who attended and last, but definitely not least, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to Francine Charles, Rachel Morrison and Isalean Phillip for their very informative presentations.

If you missed this event, you can watch the recording below.

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  1. NCDs in the Caribbean, PAHO (2016)
  2. Diabetes UK
  3. Schofield P. Br J Gen Pract. 2011; 61 (585): 190-196
By admin
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Fibroids
June 16, 2021

Fibrome Info France’s Ongoing Fibroids Campaign

As we begin our work to support women in St Kitts and Nevis who have been affected by fibroids, it has been interesting to explore what is happening on the global scene. When we take a closer look, we see that there are organisations working tirelessly in their jurisdictions to highlight this neglected woman’s health issue.

Today, we’re going to look at Fibrome Info France’s campaign which was launched in March 2021. As part of this campaign, Fibrome Info France partnered with the Women’s Right Ministry in France to raise awareness of menstruation and fibroids. Their campaign aimed to use a variety of communication platforms to empower women with information about fibroids that would empower women to take control of their health. Their campaign focuses on the health and societal challenges associated with fibroids such as the huge burden fibroids place on women’s quality of life and women’s sexual and reproductive health and the action that is required to address these issues.

In April,  their campaign rolled out in hospitals, clinics and medical practices and they utilised printed material including posters and leaflets which were distributed across 550 relay points.  Furthermore, this month (June 2021) their campaign moved into another phase where they will host a series of webinars in partnership with medical experts and these webinars will continue until October 2021.

This is a great campaign that provides much-needed information around fibroids and we’re sure it will make a significant difference by highlighting this important women’s health issue, empowering women with fibroids and providing women with access to the support that they need to manage fibroids.

More Information

To find out more about Fibrome Info France you can visit their website here or follow them on social media:

By admin
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Women's Health
May 14, 2021

Menstrual Health Has a Definition

We were absolutely delighted to learn that the term menstrual health now has an official definition. This is a huge achievement and will be of significant benefit to organisations, like us, working on health issues that impact menstrual health. Specifically, this will enable us to provide more clarity and structure around the work we do on fibroids.

The work to develop a definition for menstrual health was led by the Terminology Action Group of the Global Menstrual Collective.  Using the WHO’s definition of health, the Lancet Guttmacher Commission’s definition of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights and past concepts of menstrual hygiene and menstrual health, a multi-stakeholder group developed a comprehensive definition to:

  1. Ensure menstrual health is recognised as a significant global health issue
  2. Highlight the multi-faceted nature of menstrual health
  3. Facilitate a shared language when discussing menstrual health issues

Important points to note about this definition are that it:

  • Considers mental, social and physical wellbeing
  • Highlights the need for age-appropriate education
  • Highlights the right for women to take care of themselves during menstruation and be able to access timely diagnosis, treatment and care for menstrual health-related issues
  • Recognises the need for women to be treated with respect, dignity and sensitivity when it comes to issues related to their menstrual cycle
  • Stresses that women should have a choice as to when and how they participate in all areas of society during the different phases of their menstrual cycle
  • Recognises that menstrual health is not just limited to women’s periods

For us, this definition will be instrumental as we take forward the findings of our fibroids qualitative research project. Now that we have a formal definition for menstrual health, we can apply this to the menstrual health challenges that women with fibroids experience. This will create more structure around our future policy, advocacy, research and public health interventions aimed at improving the health and wellbeing of women living with fibroids.

More Information

For more information, you can read the journal article published by the Global Menstrual Collective here

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By admin
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CancerYou're Sweet Enough
May 12, 2021

SSBs and Bowel Cancer

On 6th May 2021, researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine published the findings from their research exploring the link between sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and early-onset bowel cancer (bowel cancer before the age of 50) in women. They found that women, under the age of 50, who consumed two or more servings of SSBs per day were more than twice as likely to develop bowel cancer than women who consumed less than one serving per week.

This piece of work was part of the ongoing Nurses’ Health Study II (1991-2015) and included 95,464 women who were asked to record their food and beverage intake every four years for 24 years. Additionally, researchers collected information on potential risk factors for bowel cancer such as weight, diet, family history, smoking habits, physical activity and use of aspirin or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Then, using statistical analysis, they explored any links between SSB intake and early-onset bowel cancer.

What Did They Find?

They found that women who consumed high quantities of SSBs in adulthood were more likely to be less physically active, consume red and processed meats and have a poor-quality diet. They also found that high consumption of SSBs in adulthood and adolescence was linked to a higher risk of developing early-onset bowel cancer (no link was observed with fruit juice consumption or artificially sweetened beverages).  It is important to note that this link was observed after taking into account the main risk factors for bowel cancer (e.g. diet, exercise and other related factors).

Researchers reported that out of the 95,464 women who were studied over the 24 years, 109 went on to develop early-onset bowel cancer.

Although researchers found a link between early-onset bowel cancer and SSB consumption because this was an observational study, they were unable to provide information on the exact cause of bowel cancer in their study population; more research is needed to understand their findings. Furthermore, this study included mostly white females and additional work is needed to explore this link in men and other ethnic groups.

What Does This Research Mean for the Public?

This research provides further evidence of the negative impact that high levels of SSB consumption may have on the public’s health and highlights the need for the public to reduce their SSB consumption.

More Information

For more detailed information on this study, you can read the full research paper here.

You can also find general information about bowel cancer on Bowel Cancer UK’s website

By admin