On 31st January 2023, Lake health and Wellbeing in partnership with the ICDF and the Ministry of Health’s Curriculum Development Unity launched a short animation, ‘Just Eat Me Fresh.  The animation was developed as part of our efforts to tackle the high rate of childhood obesity which is a major public health issue in the Caribbean with 1 in 3 children being overweight or obese.  The rate of childhood obesity in the Caribbean is higher than the global average and is reported to be on the rise. Childhood obesity is a significant challenge here in St Kitts and Nevis. A PAHO report ..read more

Every year, the 4th March is set aside as World Obesity Day and this year the theme was ‘Everybody Needs to Act.’ Obesity is defined by the World Health Organisation as ‘abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that presents a risk to health.’ Today, obesity is one of the major global health challenges that we face with 800 million people across the world being affected. Those affected by obesity are at an increased risk of developing non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as type 2 diabetes, cancer, heart disease and hypertension and it can also negatively impact mental health.  Additiona ..read more

The Just Dance Crew is our new innovative Public Health Tech project that uses 3D animation to promote physical activity and exercise in children by teaching them to perform short dancercise (dance + exercise) routines. We’re using animation because research has shown that children engage more with animated characters and we’re focusing on dance because it is a fun way to get children active.  Additionally, research shows that dance has a number of health benefits: it’s an excellent form of exercise, improves fitness, leads to weight loss, strengthens bones and muscles, is beneficial to m ..read more

On 21st February 2020, we were delighted to start the pilot for our My Healthy Heroes program with over thirty wonderful, enthusiastic fourth-graders from the Immaculate Conception Catholic School (ICCS) in St Kitts. Our My Healthy Heroes program aims to educate and empower children to make healthy choices by tapping into their creativity to highlight the importance of a healthy lifestyle in a fun and engaging way. This pilot project with the ICCS aimed to test our resources and characters (Healthy Heroes, Sugary Drinks Assassins and Junk Food Villains) and determine whether our approach would ..read more

Non-communicable diseases (NCDS) like cancer, diabetes and heart disease are a major challenge in St Kitts and Nevis. Data has demonstrated that NCDs are becoming an epidemic in the Federation with 83% of deaths being due to NCDs. We must do something about this to prevent our citizens from dying prematurely. One approach to tackling NCDs is to focus on the next generation and ensure that children adopt a healthy lifestyle. We have to create a healthy environment at schools, in homes and within society so that children can make healthy choices. Our Healthy Kids SKN campaign aims to raise aware ..read more

In May, the team behind the HENRY (Health, Exercise and Nutrition for the Really Young) project announced that as a result of their work, Leeds has become the first UK city to see a reduction in childhood obesity (although this has been disputed) If this is true, this is a great achievement. As we’re embarking on a childhood obesity prevention project, we read this news with great interest because we wanted to identify the secret to HENRY’s success and what we can learn from this project as we enter this arena. What is the HENRY Project? The HENRY project started 10 years ago, in 2009, with th ..read more

From 29th April to 3rd May 2019, the counselling department at Verschilds High School hosted their Health and Wellness Week and we were delighted to have been invited to take part in two of their planned events. On 29th April, we spoke, bright and early, at the school’s assembly on the topic of stress management. During our 15 minute presentation, we talked about what stress is, what types of situations cause stress, the impact of stress and how we can manage stress. We encouraged students to think about their own personal situations, especially during this exam period, to see how they can add ..read more

On 26th April, we attended the Ministry of Health’s focus group on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs). This event was part of the Ministry’s consultation process to get feedback as well as inform the public and key stakeholders on the progress being made to develop a national SSB policy. This event was a follow-up to the Ministry’s SSB National Consultation which took place in November 2018 and provided an update on the policy imperatives that were presented last year. From the focus group we learnt that the updated policy recommendations are: A 32% excise only tax on SSBs The tax will apply to ..read more

At the end of last year, we started developing our two-year strategy after a year of exploring the public health landscape in St Kitts and Nevis, and the wider Caribbean region. After careful consideration, we settled on focusing on women’s health and the prevention of childhood obesity.  In a previous blog we explained why we decided to focus on women’s health and today we’ll discuss why we’re also going to focus on childhood obesity.  Why Childhood Obesity? Childhood obesity is a major health issue in the Caribbean with 1 in 3 children being overweight or obese.  The rate of c ..read more

Childhood obesity is a major health issue in the Caribbean with 1 in 3 children being overweight or obese. Being obese and overweight in childhood is linked to the development of a number of health issues such as diabetes and hypertension, and it also negatively impacts a child’s mental health. These health issues can follow children into adulthood with children affected by obesity, or who are overweight, having an increased risk of becoming overweight or obese adults and developing non-communicable diseases such as cancer and heart disease in later life. Childhood obesity is a significant cha ..read more