An exponential rise in obesity and non-communicable diseases among school-aged children in Barbados has led the Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training (METVT) to stage a Food and Nutrition/Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) quiz.
Dubbed Out with NCDs National School Challenge Quiz, it will be held in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Wellness and the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Barbados.
The preliminaries will be hosted on Tuesday, March 24,and Wednesday, March 25, at the Ministry of Education’s Media Resource Auditorium, while the finals will take place on Tuesday, April 21.
Education Officer for Food and Nutrition and organizer, Hedda Phillips-Boyce, said research indicates that one out of every three students is overweight and the medical costs for treating NCDs are increasing rapidly.
“It is the view of this Ministry that persons should be sensitized about issues related to non-communicable diseases and how they can be prevented. It is hoped that this sensitization would redound to healthier persons,” she stated.
The purpose of the quiz is to sensitize students, and by extension, the wider population about the fundamentals of NCDs and nutrition.
The schools participating in the quiz are: Coleridge and Parry, The Lodge School, The Ellerslie School, St. Leonard’s Boys’, The St. Michael School, Queen’s College, Lester Vaughan and St. Ursula’s School.