BRIDGETOWN, Barbados--Get moving Barbados! Get Up! Get active! Get healthy!
This was the theme of the lunch-time lecture given by chairperson of the National Task Force On Physical Activity And Exercise, Mara Thompson, when she addressed the gathering at the Democratic Labour Party headquarters last Friday.
Thompson told the packed room that health continued to be one of the most pressing issues confronting the nation.
"While most [of us] are preoccupying ourselves with issues which we have little or no control over, we have been ignoring some silent killers in our midst, over which we have a greater control. These are called Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases (CNCDs).
Death squad
In referring to them as the death squad, Thompson said they included lifestyle-related diseases such as obesity, hypertension, high blood pressure, stroke, heart attacks and cancers.
She also said that as a result of growing awareness of these death squads in the region, the findings after the Caribbean Heads of Governments held their summit in Trinidad in 2008 were very shocking. They showed that the incidence of CNCDs in the Caribbean region was the highest in the Americas.
In reviewing statistics for the years 2001 to 2006, she noted that in 2005 heart disease, cancer, diabetes and other CNCDs accounted for over 60 per cent of all deaths in the region, compared with 29.2 per cent from infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and 9.3 per cent from injuries.
Amputations
In 2001, the prevalence of diabetes among adults in Barbados was 16.4 per cent. The total amputations at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital between 2002 and 2006 were some 995 for diabetics and 230 for non-diabetics.
In comparing the relative cost of care for diabetics and care for hypertensives, Thompson said the figures for 2001 were US$37.8 million and US$72.7 million, respectively, accounting for over five per cent of the island's gross domestic product.
Not affordable
This is money that our island cannot afford to spend during an economic recession, she said. She added that the sad fact is that those lifestyle diseases, which were preventable, were common among children, thereby casting a serious shadow over the future of the country.
She invited those gathered to attend the fitness fair organised by the National Task Force On Physical Activity And Exercise, which will be held at Ilaro Court tomorrow from 1 to 6 p.m. A number of fitness professionals will be present to give advice and information.
Skipping, martial arts, aerobics, a small gym, traditional Bajan games such as hopscotch, Chinese skipping, paddle ball, road tennis, and line dancing are some of the activities of the free event planned for the day.
