Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves has expressed concern about the rising rate of obesity and poor nutrition in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Prime Minister Gonsalves while speaking on WEFM’s Issue At Hand program while calling on Vincentians to take action to correct this issue acknowledged his own shortcoming in that regard and noted that he has made an effort to make healthy choices.
“Some may not want to hear this—the data shows that the number of obese persons, though across the board, they have more women obese than men and you have child obesity increasing—people eating too much food and too much of the wrong food,” he said.
The Prime Minister also highlight that he has been guilty of the same offense in the past, but noted that he has taken action to correct this and encouraged others to do the same.
“I make the point last week, I think–don’t know if it was on your program—Ralph can talk about this because Ralph has been a sinner in this regard, but you notice I have been losing my weight and it is always better to have a sinner who has come to redemption to talk about sin than to have a holier than thou person who believe they born without sin,” The Prime Minister said.
The Prime Minister encouraged the Vincentian public to cut back on the consumption of fast foods and sugar soft drinks, suggesting they instead be substituted with fruit, vegetables, and foods that are high in fiber content.
According to a global nutrition report, St. Vincent and the Grenadines hasn’t done much to reach its goal for reducing obesity among its population. About 34.6% of adult women and 19.5% of adult men live with obesity, which isn’t much progress.
A report from the OECS says that SVG is one of the least ready countries to deal with obesity and NCDs.
