Barbados is facing an urgent health situation that could condemn a generation of young people to early heart disease, diabetes and stroke if childhood obesity is not dramatically reduced, warns president of the Barbados Association of Medical Practitioners (BAMP) Dr Lynda Williams.

Delivering the feature address at the Barbados Heart and Stroke Foundation’s 40th anniversary luncheon held at Sandals Barbados Resort in Maxwell, Christ Church, yesterday, she called for an all-of-society response to what she described as a “Category 5 NCD (non-communicable disease) hurricane” sweeping across the island. She urged the country to set a target to cut child obesity in half within the next five years.

“For the sake of our children, we must reduce childhood obesity by 50 per cent in the next five years,” she declared. “We are in an NCD tsunami. It’s urgent. The time to act is now.”

Poor diet

The BAMP head painted a vivid picture of the intergenerational toll of poor diet, physical inactivity and neglect of medical advice, using a series of real-life composite stories to show how lifestyle diseases destroy families.

She described “Marlene”, a middle-aged woman who suffered a heart attack after years of ignoring medical advice; her brother “Grantley” who dismissed modern medicine and later developed cancer and diabetes; and “DeAndrea”, Marlene’s 15-year-old niece already weighing 170 pounds and skipping physical education classes because her knees hurt from excess weight.

“We are now developing maturity-onset diabetes in the young,” Williams said. “Children who should be Type 1 diabetics, if diagnosed at all, are now presenting with adult-type diabetes at very young ages.”

She cautioned that this trend meant children were likely to experience diseases of ageing decades earlier.

“A 33-year-old will look like a 63-year-old because they will develop complications of diabetes and hypertension much earlier,” she said, adding that the average age of hypertension diagnosis in Barbados had fallen from the mid-50s to the mid-30s.

‘Online lives’ Williams said too many Barbadian children were leading “online lives”, spending most of their days lying or sitting, while their parents set poor examples by failing to exercise or model healthy eating habits. She also lamented that some parents gave their children money to buy fast food daily

rather than preparing balanced meals.

“Children do not know what is best for them. That is why they are in families. They must be guided,” she said.

The doctor called for urgent implementation of several policy interventions, including front-ofpackage warning labels on foods, higher taxes on sugary drinks – up to 25 per cent – and restrictions on the sale and marketing of unhealthy products in and around schools. She also urged Government to reject corporate sponsorship of health events by junk-food producers.

Williams said that while policies existed on nutrition and physical activity, enforcement remained weak, and there was still “tremendous pushback from industry” against developing healthy foods. Alcohol, she added, continued to be marketed in forms appealing to children.

“Unhealthy food providers still sponsor health events and community events involving children. We have to go beyond the statistics and look at the real people behind the numbers.”

She also proposed community initiatives such as a “turn-off-the-tablet” weekend to encourage families to reconnect through outdoor activity, as well as nationwide nutritional literacy campaigns to teach people how to prepare healthy, affordable meals with familiar ingredients.

“We can subsidise all the healthy food in the world, but if people don’t know what to do with it, they won’t eat it.”

Williams concluded with an appeal for a “whole-of-Government and whole-of-community” effort to restore the nation’s health. “Yes, we are greater, and, with God’s help, our people will once again be strong and healthy.” ( CLM)