HCC Webinar ‘Weighing the Impact of COVID-19: Nutrition, Overweight, Obesity and NCDs’
- August 27, 2020
- 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
The HCC are hosting the fourth installment of the COVID-19 and NCDs in the Caribbean webinar series.
The webinar entitled “Weighing the Impact of COVID-19: Nutrition, Overweight, Obesity and NCDs, a roundtable discussion” will take place on Thursday August 27th 2020 from10:00am – 11:30am.
This webinar will focus on emerging trends in diet, overweight and obesity among adults and children and resulting short- and longer-term clinical outcomes. Through a roundtable format, a diverse panel of physicians, researchers and advocates from across the region will share personal experiences and discuss individual and population level strategies to encourage improved nutrition and management of diet-related NCDs during and after the pandemic.
The COVID-19 pandemic has raised fundamental food insecurity questions and concerns in the Caribbean. As communities adjusted to protracted periods of lockdown, resulting in widespread reduction and loss of incomes, it is likely that diets shifted to consumption of low cost processed, non-perishable foods. The food and beverage industry also took advantage of the critical shortages of food among the most vulnerable by intensifying and diversifying their marketing strategies under the guise of corporate social philanthropy. The industry has continued to donate food items to these vulnerable populations which include people living with NCDs and children. Unfortunately, food donations and marketing campaigns have been dominated by ultra-processed products high in fats, sugars and salts (HFSS).
Poor access to nutrient-rich fruits and vegetables, coupled with overconsumption of energy-dense, nutrient-poor fast foods and ultra-processed foods, is likely to exacerbate an already urgent situation in Caribbean region where one in three children are obese or overweight and up to two-thirds of adults are overweight or obese. The mental health impacts of the pandemic have also triggered behavioural and physiological changes which may be contributing to weight gain. Overweight and obesity threaten to compromise already weakened immune systems and place PLWNCDs at greater risk of contracting COVID-19 and increasing the likelihood of poor health outcomes.
Physicians and nutritionists across the region are raising concerns as they begin to see emerging patterns of weight gain and other concerning symptoms amongst adult and paediatric patients. Patients, dealing with pandemic-induced anxiety and COVID-related changes in diet and exercise, have watched their waistlines expand. Parents and school administrators have also reported weight gain among children likely driven by unhealthy diets, stress and limited physical activity. With coronavirus likely to be an integral part of our collective foreseeable future, health care providers and policymakers will need to explore individual and community-level interventions as well as national policies to support healthy diets.
KEY THEMES
Through a combination of presentations and discussion, panellists will explore the following key themes over the course of the webinar:
- COVID and Obesity
- Trends in BMI among paediatric and adult patients during the pandemic.
- Factors contributing to pandemic weight gain in children and adults.
- The role of the food and beverage industry in the obesity epidemic – prior to and during COVID-19.
- Implications of weight gain among children and adults on COVID and NCD risk.
- Moving forward: the importance of nutrition equity and strategies to achieve this at the individual, community, institutional and national levels; strategies to maintain/ reduce BMI at the individual level; policies to tackle overweight and obesity at the national level.
We look forward to welcoming our panellists/presenters:
- Ms. Zanique Edwards, Young person living with type 1 Diabetes
- Dr. Suzanne Soares, Nutritionist, CAIHR
- Professor Anne St. John, Consultant Paediatrician, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, UWI, Cave Hill, Barbados, HSFB
- Dr. Shivon Belle-Jarvis, Paediatrician, Head Paediatric Department, Mount St John’s Medical Centre, Antigua
- Dr. Tanya Beaubrun, Family Physician
- Dr. Elisa Prieto, PAHO
Register for the webinar here .
Previous webinars from the series can be viewed here .