They say youth is wasted on the young - well at least that's what the old folks say. For the young, you can't tell us much - especially about our health since that's almost guaranteed when you're 25 and under. But when those years start racking up, so do the health issues: chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, and the list goes on.
That's why the Ministry of Health is hoping to get the attention of the youth with early messaging and intervention. That did that today with a youth health fair. The organizers told us more:..
Robyn Daly - Nutritionist, MOH
"We are looking at mental health which affects a lot of our youths as we look at, you know, how healthy their mind is. We are looking at nutrition of course, what they are eating. And of course, we are looking at drug abuse. We wanted to reach out to youths, try to provide information to them, empower them to start making healthy decisions. As you know our population is not in the best of health. We have many chronic diseases, we have problems with overweight and obesity, we have physical inactivity. So, we need to start very early to empower youths and to get them thinking about health at an early age."
Jules Vasquez - Reporter
"A critic might say this is the most unenlightened way to do it because once kids hear 'sit down and have grownups talk' they tune out. Might it not be a more enlightened approach to say 'reach them out through social media or however youths communicate' which is mainly through internet mobile devices and that sort of thing?"
Robyn Daly
"That's a good point but we also look at it from another angle. We actually have our professional teams here all in one location. So, even though we have social media expose, the teachers also get a chance and the youths get a chance to ask directly to us and we get to see as well what they know. We are hoping that we can have a positive impact on them in terms of what they leave with from here today and hopefully making healthier decisions in the future."
Esner Vellos- Director of NDACC
"The majority of young people are consuming a lot of alcohol in terms of not only drinking but abusing the consumption of alcohol that leads as a gateway drug to other substances that are hardcore within the structure of drug abuse in the country of Belize. Before we used to say 'say no to drugs,' but we've realized that saying no to drugs to the young people is like practically telling them to go and do drugs. Nothing by force will have beneficial results, especially to young people."
Jules Vasquez
"So, what is your specific message to them today?"
Esner Vellos
"Well the specific message to them today is, one, young people need to be a little bit more cautious in terms of what is it that they are putting into their system. Be knowledgeable about the effects that not only alcohol has but also marijuana and over the counter medication. And be open in terms of receiving the information that they need to receive so that they can make the right choices in life."
It was a one-day event at the Princess.
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