Photos: Celebrating Wellness Extravaganza
The Health Promotion Office of the Department of Health recently held a Celebrating Wellness: Carnival Ready Health Extravaganza event in Victoria Park.
Speaking at the event, Minister of Health Kim Wilson said, “Welcome to Celebrating Wellness: Carnival Ready Health Extravaganza. It is great to be back Celebrating in person.
“Celebrating Wellness is recognised annually as part of Caribbean Wellness Day and the ongoing ‘Move More Bermuda’ campaign. This is our 11th year of Celebrating Wellness in Bermuda . . . promoting healthy lifestyles through healthy eating and active living.
“This event is geared towards increasing awareness and promoting measures to address the epidemic of Noncommunicable diseases [NCDs], which continue to severely impact Bermuda’s health, economy and development.
“Celebrating Wellness aims to encourage adults, youth and children to exercise regularly which will, lead to a healthy lifestyle. Todays activities are designed to highlight several simple lifestyle changes people can make to do so.
“Let me provide an overview of our community’s health and wellbeing, pre- pandemic:
- We have the third-highest incidence rate of diabetes in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], with over 13% of residents diagnosed
- 50% of residents have at least one chronic condition such as diabetes, heart or kidney disease
- 1 in 3 residents has high blood pressure and/or high cholesterol, and
- 75% of adults are overweight or obese
“Many of these diseases are strongly related to lifestyle factors such as poor diet, physical inactivity and smoking.
“In the Bermuda Health Strategy 2020-2027 strategic principle, the main priority is promoting healthy living and preventative care.
“Health promotion and prevention is widely recognised as an essential requirement for building a stronger health system.
“We want to empower the community to lead healthy lifestyles by enabling people to better develop self-control and improve their health.
“Events like Celebrating Wellness increase public awareness of health determinants such as diet and exercise, and encourage the adoption of healthier lifestyles to promote wellbeing through strengthened and collaborative health promotion activities.
“Simple actions like increasing our intake of local produce, reading labels of processed foods to make informed decisions, and scheduling regular exercise will drastically improve our health and quality of life.
“Whether persons are striving to be carnival ready [Bermuda Carnival] or striving to reach their optimal quality of life, they must commit to change and make healthy choices to care for the whole body.
“We continue to focus on four areas of health and encourage the public to commit to change by:
- Moving more
- Eating more vegetables
- Drinking more water, and
- Be mindful of Mental wellbeing
“We want to thank all of the organisations taking part, including Furbert’s Vertical Gardening, Bermuda Diabetes Association, Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute, Bermuda Jump Rope Federation, Bermuda Gymnastics Association, Bermuda Red Cross Association and many more.
“Thanks also to our organisers, the Health Promotion and Wellness Office and the Health Promotion Committee at The Department of Health.
“The Ministry of Health hopes that events like this one today will be the starting point to stimulate a new level of interest in health and wellbeing. We encourage everyone to visit the various booths, try out the various activities available, and have a good time Celebrating Wellness. Thank you!”
