Sweet Talk Symposium
On October 25th, 2023, we hosted The Sweet Talk Symposium in Nevis, a youth-led initiative, which represented a significant milestone in the fight against Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs).
Category: You’re Sweet Enough
Spotlight: Genesia Pemberton
Today, we turn the spotlight to Genesia Pemberton, our accomplished Youth Health Advocate. Genesia is a dedicated Clinical Dietitian with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Human Nutrition and Dietetics with honors, this is complemented by her Certification in Institutional and Community Dietetics and Nutrition.
Spotlight: Ms Fiona Zhang
Today, we shine a spotlight on Fiona Zhang, our dedicated Youth Health Advocate. Fiona is a second-year student at CFBC, pursuing her studies in natural sciences. Her unwavering career aspiration is to become a highly skilled surgeon, driven by a deep-seated passion to positively transform people’s lives through surgical interventions.
Healthy Drinking Habits Matter
t the heart of our “You’re Sweet Enough” campaign is a fervent advocacy for the adoption of healthy drinking habits, with a particular emphasis on the significance of water consumption
Meeting with the AG
We recently had the privilege of meeting with the Attorney General, Hon. Garth Wilkin, to discuss crucial policies and legislation aimed at preventing and controlling non-communicable diseases (NCDs)
Global Week for Action on NCDs
The Global Week for Action on NCDs commences on September 14th 2023, uniting civil society organisations and individuals worldwide in a collective call to action for governments to address the pressing issue of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs),
Healthy Drinking Week
The 7-week SKN Moves annual campaign, which started on 1st August 2023, continues with a focus this week on promoting healthy drinking habits.
What Are NCDs?
We’re thrilled to share a brief yet informative video featuring our Advocacy Officer, Michele Baker, who simplifies the concept of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs)
Launch of Health Policy Video Series: Addressing the benefits of health levies on St. Kitts – Nevis
To move its You’re Sweet Enough advocacy work into policy, Lake Health and Wellbeing is gearing up to launch an educational video series on health policy change.
The four-part series will be launched in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and medical professionals to increase awareness of the importance and benefits of health policies that the Government of St. Kitts-Nevis can implement to reduce the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs).
Why Health Policy?
It’s no secret that there is an increase in alarming statistics about rising obesity rates and NCDs worldwide. In response to these growing public health concerns, many countries are considering introducing health policies aimed at reducing the public’s exposure to NCD risk factors.
Popular health policies include taxes on unhealthy commodities like sugar- sweetened beverages, tobacco and alcohol. Policies around front-of-package food labeling are also championed to easily indicate to consumers which food products contain unhealthy substances like trans fats and are high in sugar, salt (sodium) and saturated fat.
These implemented measures have reduced the consumption of unhealthy products and the policy of taxation also generates revenue that can be reinvested into prevention programs for NCDs, such as physical activity initiatives or education about healthy eating habits.
A growing number of Caribbean countries are now monitoring these benefits. Countries in the region such as Bermuda, Grenada, Barbados, and Mexico are leading successful case studies of these health policies.
Roll Out of the Reel Series
By working collaboratively with health leaders and the advocacy community, Lake Health and Wellbeing hopes to address local concerns around the effectiveness of policy change and prompt government leaders to drive action toward health policy education, research, and implementation. This series is expected to complement the government’s action plan for preventing non-communicable diseases (NCD) in St. Kitts and Nevis.
The health policy series will focus on Sugar and sweetened beverage taxes and explore four key themes through 60-second reels:
- An overview of health policies with a focus on sugar-sweetened beverage taxation
- The reasons for the implementation of sugar-sweetened beverage taxation on St. Kitts-Nevis.
- The benefits of implementing a sugar-sweetened beverage tax.
- Additional policies that can prompt health/lifestyle habits such as front-of-package warning labels and a school nutrition policy
The educational reels can be viewed on Instagram and Facebook beginning March 20, 2023. New reels will be rolled out on April 3, 17, and May 1.
Jamaica’s Heart Foundation Radio Series on Health Launches in St. Kitts and Nevis
Lake Health and Wellbeing has partnered with the Heart Foundation of Jamaica to bring the radio drama series, Come Inna Dis, to St. Kitts and Nevis.
Come Inna Dis is a 13-episode radio drama geared towards helping the public make better health decisions individually and at the community level. Each episode is 3 minutes long, during which listeners follow the story of friends Angie and Jen as they embark on a journey through the curves and turns that come with having to make health and lifestyle choices.
The series tells a fun, engaging and relatable story that addresses a number of important public health issues. Specifically, the series explores non-communicable diseases (NCDs) which are the major public health challenge facing St. Kitts and Nevis and the Caribbean.
In St. Kitts and Nevis, between 2015 to 2019, 57.8% of deaths were due to NCDs. Contributing to the development of NCDs are the modifiable risk factors of an unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, tobacco use and alcohol consumption. To address the high rate of NCDs in the Federation, a healthy environment has to be created that minimises the public’s exposure to these modifiable risk factors so that they can easily choose healthy options. This requires the development and implementation of effective public health policies and health education campaigns.
Come Inna Dis is part of a range of advocacy initiatives being implemented by non-profit organisations throughout the Caribbean to advocate for healthy food policies and to encourage the public to adopt a healthy lifestyle. It was conceptualised and developed by the Heart Foundation of Jamaica’s Global Health Advocacy Project (GHAP) as part of its Food Policy Programme and was first launched in Jamaica in 2020.
Barbara McGaw, Project Manager for the Heart Foundation of Jamaica’s GHAP notes that,
The Heart Foundation of Jamaica recognises the role such an avenue, a radio series, has in helping to influence health behaviours and promote health behaviour change. We have witnessed through Come Inna Dis the tremendous impacts it has had both directly and indirectly on public perceptions, through feedback and support. That is, people have discussed what they hear with others and use such interactions to validate their own experiences and expectations.
We are all consumers. At the moment we are all disadvantaged by the lack of adequate nutrition information on our food among other things. We all have the right to information and healthy nutritious food, and for this reason, we continue to encourage our government to implement effective healthy food policies, based on scientific evidence.
We hope to experience an even greater impact in our partner island, St. Kitts and Nevis, as we continue our advocacy journey together. We also expect that its citizens will enjoy the fun-filled and dramatic journey between two friends in their quest for better health and that people will relate to their experiences, and in turn, help guide health behaviours to develop a healthier nation, and hope that this is the first of many collaborations to come.
Abi Begho, Programme Director at Lake Health and Wellbeing said,
We are absolutely delighted to have partnered with the Heart Foundation of Jamaica to bring Come Inna Dis to St. Kitts and Nevis. This is an excellent series that addresses, in a fun and engaging way, the many challenges that we face as we strive to adopt a healthy lifestyle. It also explores some of the evidence-based and effective public health policies that are needed to create a healthy environment and, therefore, it is a thorough exploration of the role that all of society must play in improving the health of the nation. We applaud the Heart Foundation of Jamaica for its creativity in addressing these important public health issues.
The public can listen to Come Inna Dis on ZIZ Radio every Wednesday at 1pm starting from 5 October 2022 and on WINN FM every Monday at 11am starting from 3 October 2022. Episodes will also be available for replay at www.youaresweetenough.com
For more information, you can watch the St Kitts and Nevis launch event of Come Inna Dis below.