Roadtown, Tortola - Planning committees in Anegada, East End/Long Look, and Jost Van Dyke have already announced their localised plans to celebrate the second annual Caribbean Wellness Day on Saturday, 12 September.
The Ministry of Health and Social Development is coordinating the local celebrations, which aim to promote physical activity and healthy eating habits towards reducing the number of persons who are diagnosed with various chronic non-communicable diseases.
Activities revealed for Anegada include a heart healthy walk along with several presentations on topics like healthy eating, living healthy, and staying fit.
The committee in East End said activities are being planned in that community for September 9 and 12. These include a community forum at the East End-Long Look Community Centre on September 9 from 7 p.m. until 9 p.m. where guest speakers will make presentations on topics such as healthy cooking habits, hypertension (or high blood pressure), and life as a dialysis patient.
On September 12 – Caribbean Wellness Day - the East End-Long Look committee will stage a vast array of activities, which include a walk to Beef Island that would be followed by sack races, tug-of-war, aerobics, physical fitness demonstrations by Mad Dog Gym Power Lifters, and a performance from the Grasshoppers Jump Rope Team.
The Jost Van Dyke planning committee has also revealed its intention to hold a heart healthy walk in celebration of the second annual Caribbean Wellness Day. That committee said physical fitness demonstrations along with a number of presentations on physical fitness and healthy eating have also been planned.
Health Education Officer in the Ministry of Health and Social Development Ms. Ivy George said she is pleased with the enthusiasm that has been showed by the committees in Anegada, East End-Long look, and Jost Van Dyke. She also encouraged other communities to start mobilising their plans for the upcoming celebration.
“The issue of chronic non-communicable diseases affects all of us. Physical inactivity and unhealthy dieting have the same potentially fatal consequences regardless of where you reside in the Territory. Therefore this is one of those occasions when watching from the sidelines should be discouraged,” she said.
Caribbean Wellness Day is observed annually on the second Saturday in September to showcase national and community level activities to promote healthy living and encourage community members to develop good health practices. These include regular physical exercise, eating healthy foods, and becoming advocates for smoke-free environments and safe spaces for physical activities.
The Ministry of Health and Social Development aspires to provide leadership that promotes health, social wellbeing, and a safe environment as positive resources for living and sustainable development of the Virgin Islands.
British Virgin Islands News