GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Sept 8, CMC – Caribbean countries were on Saturday urging their nationals to love their bodies by encouraging healthy living and focusing on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), particularly among children.
In a statement to mark Caribbean Wellness Day (CWD), the Guyana-based Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat said the occasion is being held under the theme “Love that Body – Building the Foundation for Healthy Lifestyles”.
The Secretariat said that Caribbean Wellness Day provides an opportunity to increase the awareness of the NCD burden in the region, as well as mobilising and strengthening public, private, and civil society partnerships for NCD prevention and control.
It said that while the first four years of CWD focused on raising the awareness of the burden of NCDs , the next few years will be on preventing and controlling NCDs “throughout the life course, beginning this year with a focus on children as the foundation for a healthy and productive workforce and aged population”.
The CARICOM Secretariat said that member states have agreed to develop, implement and strengthen initiatives to address the specific issues of preventing and controlling NCDs among children and in particular will be developing and strengthening healthy public policies that will foster and protect healthy lifestyles among children from birth to age 18.
“Member States will also be developing healthy public ‘child specific’ policies such as school health policies to support improved nutrition in schools; building physical activity facilities in schools and communities to encourage increased physical activity; developing school nursing programmes to provide early screening and early interventions to prevent and control NCDs among children and creating supportive environments such as smoke free and alcohol free spaces for children.”
