Medical practitioners are concerned about the staggering figures which show more young people in Jamaica are diabetic because of obesity and physical inactivity.
In an address at the University Diabetes Outreach Programme’s (UDOP)14th International Diabetes Conference Dr. Ernest Madu, in a report, explained that 19 percent of the adolescent population in Jamaica is considered obese, most of whom, suffer from type II Diabetes.
He added that “children tend to have type I Diabetes, but if you are a child and you are over weight your chances of having type II Diabetes is significantly increased. This shows that we in the Caribbean are not insulated from the negative health consequences”.
Dr. Madu urged parents to foster healthy nutritional practices in the lives of their children and increase their capacity to engage in physical activities. “Give the children proper food, avoid fast foods and eat more natural foods. Get them (children) to participate in sports and other physical activities, keep the weight down” he argued.
The medical practitioner noted that in Government needed to improve its role in promoting healthy nutrition and lifestyle choices through health policies and investing in physical education programs in schools.
njoywriting@gmail.com
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment