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Jus' Ah Conversation
Can the Barbados School Nutrition Policy curb NCD’s?
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How do we protect the next generation from a health crisis already claiming 83% of lives in Barbados? The Barbados School Nutrition Policy aims to reshape how our children eat, but the challenges run deeper than food choices on a lunch tray.
When one in three Barbadian children is already overweight or obese, and we're witnessing hypertension in 13-year-olds and strokes in 30-somethings, we face a critical turning point. What began as discussions between ministries in 2012 has evolved into a comprehensive policy approach to transform school environments into spaces that nurture healthy eating habits.
But as our fascinating panel reveals, resistance comes from unexpected places. Parents struggle with time constraints and generations of marketing influence. "There is a world system deciding what our children should eat," notes Francine Charles from the Heart and Stroke Foundation, highlighting how global forces have shaped our perception of normal eating patterns. Meanwhile, unregulated vendors outside school gates undermine the policy's effectiveness, and some children bizarrely believe water is less healthy than soda.
The conversation takes a powerful turn when examining who bears responsibility. Rather than simply blaming parents, our guests explore how businesses, policymakers, and educators must collaborate. Simple changes like positioning water at eye level in vending machines have already increased healthy choices. The pending Vendors Bill could regulate food sales around schools, while companies have begun reformulating products to meet nutrition standards.
What emerges is a sobering challenge: can a small island nation protect its future against forces much larger than itself? As one guest poignantly notes, "I don't want millennials blaming baby boomers for creating a world they can't live comfortably in." The policy isn't just about rules—it's about creating an environment where healthy choices become the easy choices.
Join us for this eye-opening conversation about food, health, and who really decides what ends up on our children's plates. Subscribe now to hear more discussions about the issues shaping Barbados today.
Introduction to the School Nutrition Policy
Speaker 1Welcome to Just A Conversation, the podcast where we explore real issues that matter to you. I'm Shayla Murrell, and joining me is my guest host, melissa Rolla. Today's topic might be considered a little controversial by some. That's the Barbados School Nutrition Policy, which was introduced to all schools in the academic year 2022 to 2023 in a phased approach. The goal is to create healthy school environments that enhance student learning and are conducive to developing healthy, lifelong eating and activity behaviors.
Speaker 1A sobering fact non-communicable diseases were identified as one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity, accounting for 83% of all deaths in 2016. The question is can the Barbados School nutrition policy change the NCD epidemic in Barbados? Some of the concerns have been parents don't want the government to tell them how to feed their children. Should teachers be monitoring children's meals? We can't forget the vendors and canteen operators. How would it affect the running of their businesses? And, of course, will the children eat what we give them? We're happy to welcome our guests. Francine Charles, program Manager of the Childhood Obesity Prevention Coalition. It's been a while. Nice to see you again. Nice to see you, shania, head of Phillips Boyce. Education Officer, ministry of Education, technological and Vocational Training, special Remit, national School Nutrition Policy. Very nice to meet you.
Speaker 3I think that it made a lot of kids a bit angry. Sometimes things that are good for you aren't always the most fun things, but it should have a positive outcome in the end because it is making kids eat healthier. The obesity rates in Barbados are high, so they were like let's do something and even though people might not be that happy about it, it's going to work in the end, I think.
Origins and Purpose of the Policy
Speaker 1That was secondary school student Sa'ari Green sharing her thoughts on the Barbados school nutrition policy. Now listen in to hear more about this highly discussed topic. So I'm going to start with Hedda Phillips-Boyce. Now, everybody living in Barbier has heard about the School National Nutrition Policy, but for those of us who may be a little unclear about it, give us a little crash course and, of course, tell us how it's going.
Speaker 4Ok now people have heard about the school nutrition policy probably starting from possibly 2019. But there has been discussions about how do we change children's eating habits from a time I went into the ministry and that was around 2012. So there's been discussions with regards to the school nutrition policy with the Ministry of Health and Wellness and the Ministry of Education, technological and Vocational Training all that time. So, shayla, you would have mentioned the reasons why we need the change and you quoted some of the statistics, so I'm not going to go over those as well, but suffice it to say we have a responsibility. The adults have a responsibility to ensure that our children are healthy.
Speaker 4So there were a number of stakeholders that were involved in creating this policy. It wasn't just the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health, so we've had persons who represent academia, civil society, teachers and even some students who are involved in creating this policy. So it's not something that just came out of the hat. We have been watching the trend. We've noticed that there's been a change from how, from what our eating habits were like from 50 years ago to now, and it's imperative that we do something with regards to our children's eating habits.
Speaker 1Agree, because I mean, after all, this generation, they're going to be leading us in the future.
Speaker 4But I want to add something. We don't want the millennials to be blaming us because we did not do anything. I have been reading that the fertility rates have been reducing, and I don't know if it is of our eating habits that's causing that. It quite possibly can be. I'm sure there's research out there that has been done as evidence that it could be. So we have to do something because it's going to affect our economy, which we are interested in, but it is a worldwide problem.
Speaker 1It is indeed. I know, ms Charles, you have a passion for children and their welfare, so this is something that will be close to your heart.
Speaker 5Well, absolutely, and thanks for having me, shayla and Melissa Absolutely. As you know, I would have been involved in child education and parenting education as part of my work, coming out of my communications work over the years, and we had started a charity that dealt with called my Child and I, that dealt education and how we could help parents. So it was just kind of a very kind of a natural transition to be part of this advocacy work and the work that I do it's with the Heart and Stroke Foundation under our Childhood Obesity Prevention Program is policy advocacy, and what I really appreciated about this is that we have identified a significant issue and Hedham just alluded to the fact that there may be also issues with fertility rates but the reality is that so much is affected by our health and wellness. So much is affected. If you go to the doctor, it almost seems like it's the cure for everything. What are you eating and are you exercising? It almost seems like it's the cure for everything what are you eating and are you exercising? And we have moved far away from some of the best practices because of the high imports, because of the significant marketing of products that are more unhealthy than healthy, and so we do have a crisis with our children, with one in three already being either obese or overweight. I'm just looking ahead that right now, currently, our adult population is showing one in five with diabetes and one in three with hypertension, so it's almost kind of clear where our children are moving to.
Speaker 5So what our work has been really focused on is behavior change is not simple.
Speaker 5As you know.
Speaker 5The evidence will show that in some cases, only 25 percent of people that actually experience in a group that experience behavior change just out on their own, on their own strength, and what the World Health Organization has pointed to is that what countries need to do and environments need to do is to change the environment a little so that it enables people to make the decisions.
Speaker 5It makes no sense to educate and guide people to a healthier environment or a healthy way of life, and then, when they step into the supermarket, when they step into the school canteens, there is nothing that allows them to make those decisions easily. And so that's why the policy side of things for us is really critical, because it heightens the awareness, and so that's the kind of work that our team is involved in, and, as you know, we have a coalition of about 30 civil society organizations that are doing this work and now trying to. Well, of course, we push for the policy, and now that policy is here, we are trying to support the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health and Wellness to really make it a reality, because by no means is this a simple work. But I think if we continue to push forward, we continue to garner the support that is needed, we can change, we can save a generation, and so that's the focus of our work.
Speaker 1It's exciting work too. I mean it really makes us feel like there's some hope for the future, that we can change, improve healthy, improve habits and become a little more healthy in our day to day lives. Melissa, you were telling me that you have one more little one in primary school.
Speaker 6Yeah, he's primary school age, but we pack lunch for him, so he doesn't depend on school meals. But in terms of school meals, I was wondering how is the ministry working with that department to make the meals more interesting, not only healthy, but interesting as well?
Speaker 4school meals department could be for about two years now. So there is one nutrition officer who is assigned to the school meals department and she has been helping them to standardize their recipes, modify them so that they are healthier. So there has been some work. So there has been some work. The problem is our children are not accustomed to eating the type of food that school meals department prepare. So that is where we tend to get a lot of wastage and I think it's quite unfortunate. But Francine just mentioned behavioral change is not easy.
Parents' Challenges with Healthy Meals
Speaker 4We need to speak to our parents. Our parents are so important because they hold the purse strings number one, number two. They dictate what is made in their household or what is brought into the household, and they will shape their children's dietary habits. So we really need to speak with the parents. We can do our part in education with our children. We can educate them. I think education is important. Francine made a very good point. We can educate our children, but if we don't have the environment with the foods that they should select, we would be doing not. So we've got a lot of work to do, but I think the important thing for the Ministry of Education, health, civil Society and all those persons who are really interested in our children is just to keep at it, just keep at it. This policy is to be introduced in a phased approach and we can't become daunted because we think that the movement is slow.
Speaker 1We have to keep working with it. I noticed that one time the media resource department was posting the meals on Instagram. So sometimes I would go and look I would say, hey, what are the children eating today? You know they have half an orange. They have a pineapple slice, sometimes they have. They have curried beef, they have. It looks kind of interesting, you know, I don't know. Well, this is time now to bring in Ms Potthoff as the secretary treasurer of the Parent Teachers Association. I'm sure that you will be in the middle of this all, getting a lot of feedback and hearing what people are thinking, what the children are thinking. What can you tell us about it?
Speaker 7Yes, thanks for having me again, because we're in the middle, we're liaising between parents, teachers, staff, and so we hear it from all different angles. Parents I find it definitely starts with them, even from babies, because it's what you give your kids from the beginning. That has the impact for them presently and then in the future. Because even what's the problem mostly is that a lot of parents do not have time, hectic schedules. They have work, the kids have after school activities. Let's face it, nobody has time on evenings. When you get home tired Meal prep is time consuming.
Speaker 7Yes, it takes a lot of time Even for one person.
Speaker 7Correct. So I think that is a major issue with parents generally. It's not that really they don't want to do it, it's that time doesn't allow. So when you have stuff like that, it would be like okay, even in mornings, believe it or not, time gets away so quickly and you want to make sure the kids get to school on time. So you're going to cut down on a lot of things. You're going to cut down on a really nutritious breakfast. You're going to cut down on preparing lunches, unless you want to do it from the night before.
Speaker 7I don't know how the lady said she prepped. That's a clear example. You prep before, and how many parents are going to really prep before when you come home tired again? You know you're not really going to do that, but it's still important, I find, for the parents to get involved because it starts with them and, as you said earlier, a lot of parents are going to say the government wants to tell us what to feed our kids. First thing they're going to say is well, are you giving me the money to actually go out and buy nutritious stuff for my kids? No, you're not. So you cannot tell me what I should pack for them or prepare for them. So that's the top list of things that we find coming through from parents. And then you have the other end, from teachers. That's in my job title to actually tell the kids know what to eat. Am I a nutritionist? You know people don't really want to go outside of what they're supposed to do.
Speaker 1Well, a little plug here for work flexibility. Remember you were saying that on your way here. It seemed a little clear, so you were wondering if people were adopting more flexible work arrangements, perhaps that could maybe help parents to manage the meal prep a little better.
Speaker 5Sheila. Could I interject a little, just based on the conversation? What Donna is saying is so real. But over the years, with the parenting education that we did, one of the things that came across very strongly is that parents really care about their children, whatever socioeconomic level. The thing is, if you don't understand, if you don't know. So I think a lot of us don't necessarily know how dangerous the foods that we are eating and drinking now, and over-consuming, are to our children.
Speaker 5The understanding and the gravity of that has not been brought to the table. If your child is ill, when you go to the doctor, the doctor says your child actually is very ill and therefore you need to put these measures in place Immediately. We do. In most cases you're not going to say well, he's going to die. So I'm going to just continue because I don't have the time. So I think it's because we don't understand the gravitas of the matter. We have not made the linkages between what we are doing when the child is small and what happens when the child reaches 30 and 31. So I think it's that kind of discussion that we need to have with parents, more so than even telling them what they should feed the kids. It is more understanding what has been happening to us in this, in a very capitalist environment that we are in.
Marketing Forces vs. Parental Choice
Speaker 5And then the second point is the reality that and somebody made the point that it's at the parents level the reality is it is not necessarily parents who are deciding what their children should eat. There is a world system that's deciding what our children should eat. There is a world system that's deciding what our children should eat. There is a system that determines what is going to be marketed more heavily than other things. Why does a company choose to market something that is grossly unhealthy more than they would an apple? They could turn the apple into the same set. When I say apple, let's use a local fruit. They can use banana into the same sexy thing that they do for something else. But a choice has been made because of the money that is associated with a production of unhealthy products. And so there's a marketing system that happens and we've all been marketed to.
Speaker 5And then what has happened? So, if you look at it in a realistic point of view, the kids that are being marketed to. Now they turn into parents, but they've only known one way. They've known running and buy a fast food because it looks good and the family's all around the table with this thing that is cheaper, but it's terrible for you. But it tastes good, it has a good smell, and so they grew up and just, and that's what we have been doing. We've only done what the systems have really brought us to. So I want us to open that discussion a little bit beyond just saying parents. Parents are people in a society, in a world system, and we are all being marketed to to ensure that there's a particular financial reward for one group and the other group spends the rest of their years in polyclinics and in hospitals trying to save themselves. So I just want to put that on the table when we talk about you know what is really influencing everything that we are doing about you know what is really influencing everything that we are doing.
Speaker 4May I add to that there is a quote that we usually use at the Ministry of Education, and that quote is if we don't take care of your wellness, you have to take care of your illness. There's another quote that I always remember, a principal that I came up under who used to say if you think education is expensive, try ignorance. And these two quotes are so very important. I think, and I'm agreeing with Francine parents need to be educated. Francine, parents need to be educated.
Speaker 4I came across an article last night where I was shocked that one country there are two countries, metropolitan countries they sell a particular cereal, no name to be mentioned. One country allows the cereal with all the pretty colors to be sold to their children, or let's say, to the parents. So the parents serve their children. The other country says, no, we're not taking this, because those that cereal has been made pretty by chemicals. We want food that has been made pretty with natural food dyes. I think that we can make the difference by selecting what it is that we are going to bring into our homes. However, we have to know. So I do understand, I do appreciate that parents on the hustle. They are very interested in their families, but we need to be educated for the sake of the children under our care. So I'm so much in agreement with what Francine just said.
Speaker 1How can we better deal with the outside forces, like the selling of unhealthy snacks in and around the school compound? How can we deal with that?
Speaker 7Well, I think that the principals need to get more involved and more educated as well, because it cannot be that you're trying to implement this policy inside of the schools and the first thing the kids are seeing when they get to school is the vendor outside selling all the healthy snacks that they adore, and they're buying it first, before they even enter the schools. So it's either they crack down, the principals crack down on the actual selling outside of the schools and try to increase it in a different way with the actual canteen that they have inside the schools.
Speaker 6Heather, I know you've said before that we need a vendors policy. Can you expand on that? What do you think that's necessary?
Speaker 4The vendors. The principals can control what is sold within the school. So we have vendors within the school. The principal can speak to the vendor and tell them, inform them that the Heart and Stroke Foundation and their team and nutrition center they have created this compliant snack and beverage list. However, that principle does not have jurisdiction for the person on the outside, the itinerant vendor. So a policy, the vending policy, is important. To be honest, I don't know how far that is, but it would help a great deal. I don't know if Francine can share on that, that one.
Speaker 5Yeah, definitely. I was going to say as soon as you finish it. I'm going to take a plug now to get all the support of the people around this table. There is a vending bill and we applaud the government that was actually passed in about 2021 or 2022. But you know there is a vending bill and we applaud the government that was actually passed in about 2021 or 2022. But you know there's a difference. There's a period between when the bill is passed and when it's enacted through proclamation, and it has allowed, over what? Two or three years, for government to put a number of things in place to allow for the policy to be reinstated.
Speaker 5Now the policy deals with the wider vending community, because there's vending in places that really shouldn't be, it's dangerous, etc. But what it will also do around the schools is that it will allow the Ministry of Health and Wellness to now have more jurisdiction, because right now there are vendors, all the vendors outside of our schools. There is not. They are not under the Ministry of Health and Wellness. They do not necessarily have to have a health certificate. They could be selling anything. I didn't know that. Yes, they are. There's no legislation around them. They could be selling anything and we do not know, and we know experiences where they have sold things that they shouldn't be selling anything. And we do not know, and we know experiences where they have sold things that they shouldn't be selling and hopefully and thankfully they were caught. But right now, and this is why at Queen's College they weren't allowing them. The principal says no, because if there's any food poisoning, will parents then turn to the schools and say, well, you let our children eat?
Speaker 1stuff on the outside.
Speaker 5So this vending policy is amazing because it will now allow the vendors to now come under various ministries and now be under guidelines.
Speaker 5If you wish to be at this school and to sell at this school, you have to be as compliant as the canteen concession is on the inside and you also have to have health and safety certificates.
Speaker 5The canteen concession is on the inside and you also have to have health and safety certificates.
Speaker 5And we have been pounding the pavements trying to find out why this bill is not being proclaimed. And we are talking to the highest levels it's the Ministry of Energy and Business and I really love the parents, national Parenting Association and everybody else to ask where is this bill and why can't it be enacted so that we can protect? Because what is also happening is that while the vendors are doing what they do on the outside, which is not good for us and for the policy, the canteen concessionaires, who have to do what they need to do and do the right thing because of the contract that they're under, they're suffering and there's some of them who've actually come close to closing down their canteens and losing their contracts because it's been hard after this first year of the policy. But how are they going to make it if right on the outside this is being allowed to happen? So we're really asking for someone to kind of you know, explain and take the bull by the horns and get the policy enacted.
Speaker 2Many children have unhealthy diets, especially at school, and now 31% are overweight or obese. And so one less sugary drink at my school may mean one friend less at risk of cavities or diabetes, R2, R3., and if we're served less foods high in saturated fats, sugar and sodium, it may reduce our risk from obesity, heart disease and high blood pressure. The solution is simple right, let's get unhealthy foods and beverages out of our schools.
Speaker 3A message from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Barbados and Partners.
Speaker 4Can I add Sure, Policymakers are so important in this. We need our policymakers to act Because if they don't, we will continue with the problems, we will be spiralling downwards and we can't afford that. So we need our policymakers to act. The prime minister she said could have been about, I think, last year that she would like to see a 30% reduction in NCDs by 2030. 2030. It can't happen. That cannot happen If our policymakers do not act regarding this initiative.
Speaker 1Yes, absolutely. And then there were some I was reading some very interesting and, I would say, kind of frightening statistics, as it relates to childhood obesity as well, and maybe you would like to expand on that a little bit.
Speaker 5No problem at all. So, basically, what we have now and these were all statistics maybe 2019, I think, or 2018, saying the one in three we know that after coming out of COVID, it probably has increased in terms of the number of children that are showing obesity or overweight now, because we went through a serious period during COVID. What has happened? The World Health Organization is now saying that this by I think it's 2030, they expect to see this even double the numbers. And the reality is why this is significant. It's not because everybody's pointing as to whether a child is big or small, because a child could not be showing overweight and still have the same issue, because maybe of genetics, etc.
Vendors Policy and Implementation Challenges
Speaker 5But the reality is the obesity and overweight is closely linked to the onslaught of non-communicable diseases, which is, as you know, would be the cancers, the strokes, heart attacks and heart diseases, and so it's inextricably linked. Most cases, if you are showing, presenting with hope, your future is kind of beginning to be made out for you. Now, what would have happened before is that a lot of these things would begin to present as difficulties when you reach maybe 50, 60. And, as people say, well, you have to die of something. That's not what's happening now? Now we are seeing stuff being presented as early as 13. So you have children with hypertension at that age. They're not going to make it.
Speaker 5We have to be realistic unless you know, the body cannot manage to carry that all the way through. So now we are seeing people at 30, 31 at the heart and stroke, who are presenting with stroke. So the issue is and the thing is yes, death is one thing, but what about your quality of life? Of course I say so all the time 30, 31,. I should be at the peak of my life and being productive. I often hear that.
Speaker 5Yeah instead, you're popping pills, you are either at the heart and stroke office trying to see if you could rehabilitate, and these issues are growing and growing and that's the reason why we really need to take a look at it. The insurance companies have already said it their stats are showing that they're spending and bleeding because of the NCD crisis, so you know what begins to happen after that. They will start to protect themselves, right, and therefore, when you now have an NCD, you're probably having to put that bill yourself more than anything. So we have an issue and I don't know why the issue has to reach close to home for specific people for it to be tended to Right. We can look at the world and we are seeing that across the globe, there are countries where the issue is becoming significant in terms of the proliferation of NCDs. We already have something close to a crisis, and I'm saying, as a small country and I was very proud of Barbados during COVID how we made hard decisions because we realized we could lose people.
Speaker 5America lost a million people. We can't lose 10 people Right, and we made the hard decisions and I'm saying that the world is telling us now that we have a crisis. That's there and it's coming closer. Why can't we all pull together and that's why I want to change the conversation around just saying that it's parents. I think we need to be educated, whatever bracket you fall into you may be a parent, you may be a policymaker we have to realize that we have been marketed to very heavily all of us Right and we need to re-educate ourselves and make a difference for our small island developing state, because nobody is going to take care of us unless we stand up and take care of ourselves.
Speaker 6I was wondering. The national nutrition policy that's supposed to come on stream some point, how would that complement the school nutrition policy in? Terms of having to curb the onslaught of NCDs and so on. How about that?
Speaker 5Yeah Well, we've already been part. The civil society has been brought into the creation of the national nutrition policy and what we have seen is that it's going to be significant because it's going to raise or increase the stakeholder groups that are going to be involved in having to respond to the policy. So, inside of businesses, you already see, I think DCCI, the Chamber of Commerce and the Ministry of Health and Wellness have just had a pact that they have made in terms of creating wellness spaces and more wellness awareness within the companies, and so things are going to change. There's going to be policies in the hospital where we would no longer have a vending machine selling drinks that bring diabetes right next to the reception area for people who are waiting for treatment. So there's going to be a lot of changes.
Speaker 5I mean obviously hard, you know it's going to be. It's going to be phased in, I would imagine, but it then expands the number of groups that are now involved. Changes, I mean obviously hard, you know it's going to be phased in, I would imagine, but it then expands the number of groups that are now involved and so, like parents would now receive that education beyond the work that Ministry of Education is doing at the PTA level. They're going to be hearing that and getting that information in other different spheres, so it's going to be a helpful document for sure, and how soon are you looking at again?
Speaker 6Are we looking at getting that done? That one, I'm not sure.
Speaker 5Yeah, If we haven't, we have yeah it's a work in progress, so we haven't gotten the date or even the year that it will definitely come on, but quite a bit of work was done. But, as you know, my head of made an interesting point about when they started discussing the nutrition policy and when we actually got it, but I think the overall thing, though, is that there is a new awareness, based on all these discussions around the policies, that's already beginning to change how you and I think about our health and wellness. You and I think about our health and wellness.
Speaker 6Okay, I was wondering, donna, in terms of parents what are you hearing from parents about how they feel about the policy? Is there a lot of resistance? Is there, you know, people who are looking to parents, who are looking to you know, comply with the policy? What are you hearing?
Speaker 7Most of the parents are a bit skeptical because most of them are not that educated about this in general, especially. Yeah, you know how to eat healthy, you're supposed to eat fruits, you're supposed to eat vegetables, all of that, but, like the specifics of it, they're not knowledgeable in that area. So I think they need more work. And the problem with parents, too, is that these things are going to be taught during PTA meetings and half of them don't come.
Speaker 6That's a fact. That's another issue.
Speaker 7That's another issue on its own right. That's a problem we have. So if they don't come to the meetings, we will probably have to find a way like we have the listings, or like how everything was advertised with the healthy eating. We'll probably have to find a way to send it to them. Probably use WhatsApp, because most parents ain't gonna go in and read a big, long email. And even if you do use the area of using WhatsApp, make it like small, short, shorter versions so that they don't have to read too much, because they will not sit down there and look at that. If it's a TikTok video or something like that, they will look at it before they look at something with nutrition. Let's be honest.
Speaker 7So we have the majority saying it will be difficult, you have to get them more educated. Then the other half they have that, yeah, they're interested, but they're saying again, time comes back into play. And then they're saying they don't know if the children are actually going to eat it, because we find that the kids nowadays are picky, as you say back in the day. I'm sure you all can agree, when we don't want to eat something, your parents gonna make you sit down there. They're not only gonna make you eat it, they're gonna feed you more than their parents are gonna really sit down and be feeding their kids, because in one hand they're gonna want to have the cell phone and they're not gonna want to have time to feed the kids.
Speaker 7But there's so sorry, sorry, go ahead. So there's a lot of different things in place and a lot of different feedback, but they have to get more aware, and I find even the issue of the soft drink. Parents are so quick to give their children soft drinks instead of water. This one little girl told my daughter a day because she had a big bottle of water and said water's not good for you. Why aren't you drinking sodas Really? I was like are you kidding me? They're actually thinking that sodas are healthier than water.
Speaker 5Because the people who drink sodas look really good on TV.
Speaker 1That's probably why.
NCDs Crisis and Youth Health Statistics
Speaker 7And I was speaking to her earlier and I was telling her a day I sat in a mall and I watched everybody eating and all the kids had soda. There was not a water, not one, and I find that bad and, as we know, sodas having so much sugar, the sugar intake in there is crazy. So that's my intake.
Speaker 1When you're talking about parents and their their feedback in a nutshell there's a there's a list of approved snacks, right, but let me get back to that. I'll let you see what you have to say.
Speaker 4I just want to say here that parents need to know that a one bottle of a sugar sweetened beverage can have as much as 16 teaspoons of sugar. I think that's important for them to know. So measure out 16 teaspoons of sugar and see if you can eat that. Give that to your child. That's poison. I heard from a person from Latin America did an experiment on rats. I mean, we're not human beings. I mean they're not human beings. Some people might say, say well, that doesn't really apply to us. So they gave the rats sugar and cocaine. You know what the rats went back for time and time again the sugar.
Speaker 4Sugar is addictive it is addictive, so we've got to find a way to wean ourselves off. I knew about drinking water when I just finished studying, because I studied nutrition. When I came to Barbados, I was in the habit of drinking water. I had an adult who told me she is so cheap she can't even buy a bottle of drink. And that was back in the day, back in the days, way back in day. So to hear that it is still being said in this day, it's kind of a shock to me. Yes, but um, with regards to what Donna said, those persons who come to PTA meetings and to the online meetings that the ministry and the Heart and Stroke Foundation would create those parents who have a vested interest in their children.
Speaker 4We need to find a way to get to those parents who are not interested in those kind of forums, and that's where we all need to put our head together because, I mean, it's our nation and the parents are are training and imitating behaviors to children who are going to be adults later. So we've got to find a way of how to get through to these. But with regards to the preparation of food, I do my prep on the weekend, so it makes it a little easier. I know it might be easy for me because only two of us in the household, so it might make it a little easier, but that's one way. I've tried planting vegetables in little pots just as an experiment so I could share with other people what they can do. So we need to see what we can do.
Speaker 4And at the Heart and Stroke Foundation and Ministry meeting I said at that session where I was asked to speak in the Ministry of Education, we are trying to recreate children who are problem solvers and creative thinkers. Adults need to be the same. The Ministry of Education, our teachers, can't only be teaching our children how to think critically and to problem solve, and we have our adults who are just taking things and doing things on a whim. So we need to think about what can we do in order to make our families healthy or healthy. It's not easy, I do. I understand. My heart bleeds for those parents who are a quandary as to what to do, but we need to help them. We need to help because I know that the majority of the parents in Barbados are really interested in their children's welfare.
Speaker 8Our bodies are up to 75% water, so our beverage choices need to reflect that. The Barbados School Nutrition Policy continues to promote water as the number one choice in combating thirst and even curbing hunger. Water helps us maintain the health of vital organs like our liver, kidneys, heart and brain that our bodies need to survive. Plus, the sugar, salt and sodium content are low to non-existent compared with other beverages, so you can safely drink with no need to think Whether it's still sparkling-flavored or straight from the tap when hydration matters. Make the choice that more and more Barbadian students are making Choose water. Water works. The Barbados School Nutrition Policy Designed to promote healthy bodies, healthy minds.
Speaker 6I know we have the vendors' workshops. What about parents' workshops? Is that an idea? Yeah, we have the vendors workshops. What about parents workshops? Is that an idea? Yeah, we have those as well.
Speaker 5There's a national we just had one recently an online parent forum that we do in conjunction with the Ministry of Health and Wellness and the Ministry of Education. So we do those. Just before the policy was implemented, the ministry had called a big one as well. What you find and that's the same point, I think that's being made a lot of parents actually don't attend. If you look at it in comparison to the kind of numbers that you may have for another event, that is probably more entertaining. So that work is being done. That work is being done. And then currently, heart and Stroke is working with the Ministry of Health and Wellness and the Ministry of Education on a school nutrition policy communications plan that targets specifically parents and other groups. But WhatsApps and that kind of thing we're looking at. So that work is being done now, hopefully to start in January, and I imagine GIS would also be pumping out that information as well. Yes, we are on board. So. Yes, so there's work being done at all those levels. But I also want us to not I want us to be wider about the stakeholders who are involved in this process. So we have spoken about the parents and the children and we have spoken.
Speaker 5Obviously, the policymakers need to, definitely, and it's not just putting the policies in place but speaking to the public, just as we did and we do for hurricanes and get to brass tacks about what is happening.
Industry's Role in Healthy Environments
Speaker 5But I think we also need to include the industry in this process. I know we are high importers, but we are also local producers and I think we need to look at what are those local producers doing to help with the environment. It cannot be that they're just at self-interest, not in a small island. Development state is the biggest priority for you. There has to be the fact that you're also thinking about the productivity that these people are also going to be my workforce, and so we need to include them and find out what they're also doing to change and to help change the environment. It can be simple things to change and to help change the environment. It can be simple things, for example, what we found at the canteens. The nutritionists who work with our canteen concessionaires showed them about putting the water higher up in the vending machines that they have inside of their canteens and putting the drinks that are not healthy lower. This is before the policy came in, and they recorded that their sales in water increased because it's a simple marketing technique.
Speaker 2What?
Speaker 5I see is what I want. Then in some countries, especially in the States, they started policies where you know, when you're coming in to go and pay at the supermarket, you know those little shelves that just happen to be at the level of the children's eyes. They have to remove those and only put healthy or other products, but you're not allowed to put unhealthy products at the eye level of the children. And so there are lots of things that I think the business community can come together, put their heads together.
Speaker 5There's one state that has this really interesting project that they do in the supermarkets when you come in, as soon as you enter, fruits are in the front and the children are given the fruits free, a little slice, so that they eat it and they like it. And then they will say, mommy, can we get some more, right? So there are things that the industry can do as well. And then also, what we found with the school nutrition policy is that now, because there's a requirement that the only way you can sell your stuff is if it's compliant, we have seen reformulation by companies. They have reformulated, and then companies that depend on the imports, they have actually started to bring in other products and they will call our nutritionists and say look, I find this product that doesn't have sugar. So there's also work on that end, so that the things that we are talking about are actually accessible to us and affordable to us as well.
Speaker 1Thank you very much, ladies. I have to say that I've realized that this is certainly a holistic approach. The children they are looking at all of us, okay. So this is really a matter that has to be dealt with a level of urgency, because there are our future leaders. So I thank you very much for bringing this matter to our attention. We could go and do our research now and see how we could all play our role. I am going to um get some parting comments. If we could get our parting comments in about 30 seconds or so. Melissa, you have anything to say as a parting comment, anything like that.
Speaker 6I was just wondering how we're going to get the industry on board. That's the biggest thing, to get these businesses, these companies on board, because to me that's the major part of it. You know, not just getting parents on board, but these industries?
Speaker 1yes, okay, any, um about 30 seconds or so, any comments.
Speaker 7I find, when you're thinking of healthy living for kids, all of us in general I want us not to only look at the nutrition aspect. There's a combination of everything there's also. There's also health and wellness generally, which is your mind, because if you're not eating healthy, the kids are not going to learn properly. You know you have to feed our brains and bodies all together with something nutritious. So I want us to not look only as what we're eating. I want you to look at it, too, as your mind and you know, relaxation and make sure you get to move every day. And water is important. Believe it or not, water is a must.
Speaker 4Okay, I would like to say that I do not want the millennials to blame the baby boomers and the Gen X for creating a world that they can't live comfortably in. So we need to act now. We need to create an environment for everyone so that they can live to their full potential.
Speaker 5And with regards to our children, we need to put the policies in place to ensure that they things like the front of package, warning labels, other policies, and make some strong decisions. And my real hope is a couple of things is that our parenting groups and our ministries realize that we have a real opportunity here to save a generation and that we all kind of buy into it and make that and just kind of, you know, give our best to this moment and let us be on the right side of history, of course, Thank you for listening to Just the Conversation.
Speaker 1We hope we shed some light on why the Barbier School Nutrition Policy and its importance for the future generation. It's important for the future generation. Special thanks to our guests, Francine Charles, Hedda Phillips-Boyce and Donna Potthoff for sharing their insights. Visit our website, gisbarbiosgovbb. Or follow us on social media for more resources and tips. Don't forget to subscribe on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts for more inspiring conversations like this one.
Closing Thoughts and Call to Action
Speaker 9Thanks for listening to this episode of Just a Conversation. This episode was hosted by Sheila Murrow, with a special guest host, melissa Rolla, recorded and mixed by Andre Olten. This series is a production of the Barbados Government Information Service. This series is a production of the Barbados Government Information Service. Stay connected with us for more meaningful and fun conversations by following us on Instagram and Facebook at GIS Barbados, or visit our website at GIS Barbados. Dot gov. Dot. Bb. We'll catch you next time on Just a Conversation, where we discuss the topics that matter to you.