... Food industry task force to aid initiative

JAMAICA’S NATIONAL Food Industry Taskforce was established in March 2017 to focus on product reformulation, food labelling and marketing, among other areas, noted Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister Kamina Johnson Smith.

Speaking on childhood obesity at a CARICOM Roundtable Forum at the 72nd United Nations (UN) General Assembly in New York last month, she further advised that food-based dietary guidelines were established to complement the taskforce’s work.

Johnson Smith disclosed that the Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, also implemented the Healthy Youth for Positive Energy Initiative.

Additionally, she said the Government announced that schools would be mandated to undertake physical activity and exercise programmes for grade seven to 13 students, with programmes for promoting good health and healthy lifestyles in early childhood institutions.

The minister further said that in support of this development, a nutrition policy stipulating the requisite caloric content for meals served in school canteens is on track for completion by year-end.

Johnson Smith emphasised, however, that there were still major impediments to the effective implementation of global commitments such as “pushbacks” from industries; slow rollout of a regulatory framework to address risk factors; and lack of resources, particularly due to inadequate official development assistance.

She said Jamaica remained steadfast in its position on the need for the UN’s redoubling of efforts to support effective actions to arrest the NCD epidemic.

As such, Johnson Smith is encouraging greater cooperation between Jamaica and its bilateral partners for the greater good of future generations of citizens and, by extension, the wider global community.