NGO promotes backyard gardens

IN a bid to address the impact the non-communicable diseases are having on health and education in the Western Division, a westbased non-governmental organisation is promoting the establishment of backyard gardens.

The Western Charity Alliance — formed under Vodafone ATH Foundation’s World of Difference program — said it was concerned about how NCDs were affecting education, life expectancy and quality of life.

“Surveys done in schools under Health and Nutrition programs have revealed students are under performing compared with children 10 years back,” said Western Charity Alliance executive officer Jitend Naidu.

“The ability to excel in school work and memorising things are not as it used to be with students years back despite modern technologies and the high-tech learning environment.”

He said stress-related problems linked to poor diet could also be a contributing factor to mental health issues.

“The stress level among people nowadays is high and NCDs, mental illness and many other factors affecting our society is all due to not eating the right amounts of fresh fruits and vegetables.”

Mr Naidu said life expectancy was also linked to poor diet.