OUTSPOKEN medical doctor Alfred Dawes is calling for the development of green spaces for exercise to complement recent initiatives launched to get Jamaicans to be more physically active and lead healthy lifestyles.

His call comes on the heels of the launch of the Ministry of Health’s Jamaica Moves (#JAMoves) campaign — an aggressive call to action to get Jamaicans to be more active — and the launch of the National Food Industry Task Force, which is tasked with formulating strategies to improve Jamaicans’ diet and lessen the economic burden of non-communicable diseases.

Dr Dawes said while he is in support of both initiatives, developing green spaces is also important.

He said in many South American countries, there are public parks with exercise machines and jogging paths, however, locally, “we have built up almost all the green space in our urban areas”.

Dr Dawes further explained that urban professionals live in dormitory communities, far from where they work and where their children go to school, which means that they spend a significant amount of time in traffic with less time for exercise and less time to cook — resulting in “convenience” food that is high in fat and carbohydrates becoming their mainstay.

“Even in the rural areas we are still eating the high-starch foods of our foreparents while substituting their walking for motorised transportation. The sad truth is that our comparatively rapidly developing country is designed to make us fat with the food available, where we live and work, and the poor nutritional education available. Fixing just one aspect of the cause of why we are a fat nation will not make us slim or healthier. We need to tackle all the factors and implement treatments that are proven to work,” he said.

The Urban Development Corporation (UDC) had indicated some time ago that it would be developing green spaces in each parish.

The public relations arm of UDC informed the Jamaica Observer that it is now embarking on a drive to pioneer transformative projects across the length and breadth of Jamaica, and is currently at the concept stage regarding green spaces. The UDC said that it will share details with the media and engage in public consultations when they get to the implementation stage.

Meanwhile, Minister of Health Dr Christopher Tufton said part of #JAMoves is to identify and develop or upgrade, where necessary, and brand green spaces into walking or jogging trails for Jamaicans to participate in physical activity.

The campaign is expected to focus on community-level interventions to facilitate increased physical activity among the population.

— Kimberley Hibbert