Place more emphasis on lowering the cost of healthy eating

THE EDITOR, Sir: THE GOVERNMENT’S intention to limit the amount of high-content sugary drinks purchased in schools is commendable, I must say. However, I have read that there is a pursuit to push higher taxes on these sugary drinks in order to curb childhood obesity. I pose this question: why not lower the cost of natural fruits and vegetable juices instead?

On average, the cost of natural juices doubles or even triples the cost of sugary drinks. As a result of this, eating healthily is considered to be too expensive, especially for low-income families. In order to rectify this problem, wouldn’t it be better to sell locally made natural juices?

Jamaica is a tropical island, hence the production of local juices should not be as costly in comparison to the amount of money spent on imported, unhealthy beverages.

Another point of concern is the level of promotion done in efforts to make sugary drinks more popular. Have you noticed that there are more brands of sugary beverages than natural juices? I can assume that the general population’s answer is yes.

Even if a small company tries its very best to promote natural juices, not long after it will be ‘man-handled’ by a larger company with more child-friendly advertisements, whose only concerned is the financial gains from the sugary drink market. TREMENDOUS EFFECTS

The results of these actions have affected Jamaicans tremendously, as type 2 diabetes mellitus, ‘sugar’, is one of the most common biochemical disorders we encounter with all age groups.

With type 2 diabetes mellitus, glucose, which is found in these sugary drinks, is used by the body to secrete insulin, which, unfortunately, cannot be utilised later on for cell respiration.

In addition to this, excess glucose in the body is stored as glycogen, which in turn leads to obesity.

Luckily, this disorder can be reversed with a healthy lifestyle.

Although we are responsible for our health and the health of our children, it is right for us to feel that our political leaders are doing everything they can to ensure that the general public is in top-notch health. After all, aren’t we their main priority?