Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton is urging Jamaicans to step away from traditional foods that are damaging the body while embracing healthier choices.

Speaking at the launch of Jamaica Salt Consumption, Knowledge, Attitude and Practices (Salt-KAP) Study on Wednesday, Tufton said while he respects the Jamaican culture and history, “there are some aspects of our culture that, frankly speaking, have not served us well, and some of the consumption habits that were geared toward giving us energy to work sugar plantations, ultimately, gave us strokes and arthritis and diabetes”.

Tufton added: “We must be smart enough, as an independent people to liberate ourselves from traditions that have not served us well. We must be willing to change”.

He said it is estimated that a reduction to five grams of salt per day would reduce strokes by 25 per cent and coronary heart disease by 18 per cent. This in turn, according to Tufton, would prevent approximately 2.5 million deaths per year.

“The result of the Jamaica Health and Lifestyle Survey showed a high prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors. Approximately one in three persons or 34 per cent had hypertension. Over 50 per cent of Jamaicans were overweight or obese, and the majority of the population, 82 per cent, were also shown to engage in low levels of physical activity,” declared Tufton.

He said his ministry has an obligation to protect Jamaicans from unhealthy diets through food policies and food environment, and through policy intervention in schools, communities, workplace and among the general population.

“The launch of the Jamaica Salt Consumption Study represents for us an important step in our efforts to tackle [the] crisis of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and to improve the health and well-being of our population. The crisis of NCDs is not just a local problem, it’s a regional problem and it’s a global problem.

“It’s important to assess the NCD epidemic in a global health care context and I think COVID-19, which is responsible for close to four million deaths and counting, with over 1,000 deaths here in Jamaica, if you dissect those deaths you will recognise the importance of lifestyle and why it is critical that we promote healthy living as part of our overall resilience as individuals and as a society,” added Tufton.

The health and wellness minister pointed out that an average of more than 40 million people die worldwide each year before they reach the age of 70 from lifestyle diseases.

“The main drivers of that are related to unhealthy consumption habits. These are consumption diets high in salts, sugars and fats, and of course, excessive alcohol consumption is another one,” said Tufton.

In the meantime, principal investigator for the study, Professor Trevor Ferguson, explained that it is a collaborative research project between the Ministry of Health and Wellness, the Caribbean Institute for Health Research at The University of the West Indies and is funded by the National Health Fund.

“The overall aim of the project is to look at the baseline data of salt consumption in Jamaica, salt content in package and restaurant foods, and to evaluate knowledge attitudes and practices of Jamaicans regarding salt consumption” Ferguson said.

He added: “Humans need just about 500 milligrams of sodium to carry out normal bodily functions such as water balance and nerve conduction. However, most of us consume much more than is actually needed. Global estimates suggest that persons consume between nine and 12 grams of salt per day, which is one-and-a-half to two times the recommended level. In terms of the sources of salt in the diet, most of it comes from table salt”.