Bridgetown, Barbados – 17 January 2025 (PAHO) – The Ministry of Health and Wellness with PAHO’s support launched the Creative Play initiative at a fourth school in Barbados.
To address the incidence of NCDs and under the WHO STOP Obesity Initiative, the Ministry of Health and Wellness launched Creative Play at St. Albans, Charles F. Broome and Workman’s Primary. Luther Thorne Primary has joined the increasing list of schools which have adopted the initiative, which was the brainchild of Health Promotion Officer in the Ministry of Health and Wellness, Donna Barker. The objective is to increase activity among primary school children in a fun and creative way.
During his remarks to launch Creative Play at Luther Thorne Primary, Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Wellness, Hon. Davidson Ishmael, MP, referred to Creative Play as “a wonderful initiative”, stating: “I support it whole heartedly because it does align significantly and strategically with what we’re trying to achieve which is to get our children to be more active.”
The Minister described NCDs as a major issue in the Caribbean which is responsible for “eight out of ten deaths” in Barbados.
He thanked the Ministry of Health for developing Creative Play to help the children, since 28-percent of children in Barbados are overweight.
Childhood obesity leads to adult obesity generally, the Minister said. “If we’re not making interventions at this level, unfortunately we’re going to see children who turn into adults who have unhealthy lifestyles and unhealthy eating practices, dietary practices, nutritional practices, and lifestyle practices. So we need to curb the bad and negative lifestyle behaviours that we see in our children now.”
Creative Play comprises colourful obstacle courses etched into the ground of play areas where children normally commune, and the games are reminiscent of hopscotch and snakes and ladders. The children follow the instructions and hop, skip, jump, bend over and run to complete the steps in the games.
While sharing Minister Ishmael’s concern over the 80-percent of deaths which are due to NCDs, PAHO/WHO Advisor for NCDs and Mental Health for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean Countries, Dr. Taraleen Malcolm, also lamented that of those deaths, a large proportion are premature, as many are “dying before the age of 70.”
Additionally, Dr. Malcolm said addressing obesity is part of achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3.4 of reducing by one-third premature deaths from NCDs, another reason PAHO is proud to collaborate on the Creative Play initiative.
Ms. Barker recalled how the Ministry of Health and Wellness worked with an artist to create the games and the instruction boards which were erected on nearby walls.
In expressing her thanks for Creative Play, the Principal of Luther Thorne Primary, Erica Holder, said the school encourages children to drink water and exercise. She added that children of all ages engage in Creative Play and teachers are incorporating it into their programmes.
Head girl of the school, Amaya Batson, joined in and presented her own remarks, saying thank you for the play area, stating that “it feels good.”
