The Caribbean Moves campaign is growing with a third Caribbean country launching their version of this initiative. On 7th December 2018, Trinidad and Tobago joined the Caribbean Moves family with the launch of TT Moves at the Brian Lara Promenade, in Port of Spain, Trinidad.
Trinidad and Tobago’s Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh explained that this campaign is just one of their approaches to reduce the incidence of non-communicable diseases in their Caribbean nation. He stated that this campaign is a continuation of their plan to move the public from an unhealthy to a healthier lifestyle, explaining that:
“When I say a healthier lifestyle, I mean how we eat, how we exercise, controlling our stress levels, moving away from this, as social-media electronic toys which shackle us to a device and we sit down.
“We have to start to exercise some more. Simple walking, simple jogging. We have to bring into our diets healthier options like fruits. Today we are giving out fruits and fruit trees. We want people “to gradually change their lifestyles, not change today for tomorrow.”
The launch of TT Moves follows the launch of Barbados Moves in October 2018 with more Caribbean nations expected to join the movement in 2019.
Caribbean Moves is an initiative launched in 2018 that is based on the successful Jamaica Moves campaign and focuses on physical activity, healthy eating and age appropriate health checks. They’re in the process of establishing a secretariat and their remit is to develop an implementation schedule, coordinate activities and strengthen existing work in the Caribbean Region.
Picture Credit: Anil Rampersad, pictured is Terrence Deyalsingh, the Minister of Health for Trinidad and Tobago
