Dear Editor,

One in three Jamaicans is hypertensive, and one in eight is diabetic.

The Jamaica Health and Lifestyle Survey (2016-2017) reported that more than 70 per cent of the population have insufficient resources or access to safe, healthy, and nutritious foods. This is concerning as overconsumption of nutrients of concern, such as salt, fats, and sugar, is a major contributor to the prevalence of non-communicable (NCDs), such as diabetes and hypertension. Further, the World Health Organization Global School-based Student Health Survey reported in 2017 that, in Jamaica 20 per cent of boys and 26.4 per cent of girls between the ages of 13-17 were overweight, and 9 per cent of boys and 9.5 per cent of girls in that same age group were obese. In that same year, more than 30,000 children between 10 and 19 were also found to be hypertensive, which is an unusual and alarming trend in children.

School-aged children often do not have access to adequate nutrition at school, resulting in the development of poor food habits and eating patterns that can lead to NCDs, whether in their youth or later in adulthood. This further contributes to the monumental burden NCDs place on Jamaica’s public health-care system.

Most children and adolescents primarily access food at school, thus the reopening of schools and the exacerbating public health effect of COVID-19 on NCD management and care presents a perfect opportunity for a collaborative response from the ministries of Health and Wellness and Education to fix a long-standing issue of poor nutrition in schools.

The Ministry of Health, through the recent improvement and expansion of the Health Systems Strengthening Programme has as an objective the strengthening of comprehensive policies for the prevention of NCD risk factors. The Interim Guidelines on Beverages in Schools demonstrates how we can use policies and public health legislation to lessen NCD risk factors, but these guidelines are not enough as they only place a restriction on sugar-sweetened beverages that have a harmful amount of sugar.

There are no guidelines that speak to ultra-processed food in the school food environment, and the high amounts of nutrients of concern that may be in those products. There are also no guidelines or regulations for the school food environment aimed at reducing rampant marketing and subliminal advertising of food products that have high amounts of sugar, salt, trans and saturated fats.

A U-Report poll conducted by the Jamaica Youth Advocacy Network (JYAN) in June 2021 revealed that Jamaican young people are overwhelmingly in support of the implementation of a range of interventions focused on creating a healthy school food environment. To this end, we call for the finalisation and implementation of a school nutrition and wellness policy with accompanying standards.

All Jamaican children and young people should have access to healthy food at school and should be protected from exposure to a harmful school food environment. School nutrition and wellness policies guide schools in restricting access to unhealthy foods, protect children from food industry marketing, and emphasise the nutritional standards children need to grow, develop, and succeed without heightening their risk of developing NCDs. This policy can create equal access to healthy food for schoolchildren, regardless of where they live, and reduce barriers around affordability of healthy food items.

Shereika Mills

Policy & Advocacy Officer

Jamaica Youth Advocacy Network (JYAN)

advocacy@youthadvocateja.org