Adults need to be more physically active

Four out of every ten adults in Barbados are not getting enough physical activity.

 

This is coming from PAHO/WHO Representative for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Dr. Godfrey Xuereb, who delivered remarks at the World Health Day 2016 launch on Wednesday evening at PAHO headquarters.

 

He stated that this is a problem because while having a proper diet is important to preventing and controlling diabetes, this alone is not enough unless it is accompanied by exercise.

 

One of the ways that stakeholders can ensure that its citizens are getting enough exercise is by organisations creating a space within their respective workplaces where their staff can come and exercise, either before or after work.

 

“Many will say that diet alone will not solve the issue of diabetes prevention and I totally agree. We need to twin the dietary habits with physical activity. Four out of every ten adults in Barbados are not doing enough physical activity. Again, we all have a role to play in creating an enabling environment to facilitate increased physical activity in Barbados. I ask you, how many of our offices have facilities which enable our staff to be physically active before or after work? How many of us reach the 60 minutes per week recommended by WHO for all adults? We in the PAHO office are leading by example and have a healthy space within the office as well as shower 

facilities for staff to be more physically active.”

 

Dr. Xuereb stated that stakeholders also need to emphasise the importance of physical activity from a young age as well.

 

“We need to start from our children and ensure that they learn to love physical activity and make it a part of their lifestyle. Again, we at the PAHO office would be making our healthy space available for our family members as we ‘Walk the Talk’. Let us take this opportunity of the recent success of the West Indies Cricket Teams and the upcoming successes that the Caribbean would have in Rio this summer to galvanise our youth and children into being more active.”

 

He added that this would only be made possible, however, if an enabling environment is created for young people to engage in physical activity.

 

“But we also need to create the enabling environment for them to do so. As development partners, we should look at the physical and mental well-being of the school children of Barbados. We should look at the physical development of the youth of this country as they will be the motor that will continue to generate the economic development of this nation. They will be the ones who the UN has seen to sustain development through the SDGs, which have the goal to reduce premature mortality from non-communicable diseases by 30 per cent by 2030.”