School administrators have expressed confidence that the national school Nutrition Policy will be effective in reducing the high rates of non-communicable diseases, such as childhood obesity, once implemented.

Key stakeholders, including canteen operators, administrators, teachers, parents, concessionaires, and vendors within a 200m radius of schools, shared their perspectives during a consultation session at Merl Grove High on Tuesday.

The policy sets nutritional standards and recommendations and seeks to offer healthier eating options for students from early childhood through to high school.

Collette McLean Harding, principal of Fairfield Primary School, believes the policy is being conducted in a timely manner.

“I am impressed that we are trying to create a healthy environment for our students ... ,” McLean Harding said in a Gleaner interview.

“I believe that this initiative will allow [them] to be more focused rather than being so hyperactive with the whole heap of fat and sugar in their diet,” she said.

McLean Harding has urged schools to clamp down on the consumption of sugary drinks and other less-healthy food choices – a pitch that falls in line with the policy prescriptions of the Ministry of Health & Wellness. That countercultural push would not come without its challenges, she acknowledged.

But the Fairfield principal is optimistic that consultation sessions staged by the health and education ministries will run smoothly over time.

Dr Christopher Tufton, the health minister, said that Jamaica’s childhood obesity incidence was a cause for concern, with 17.4 per cent of children aged 10 and 11 being classified as overweight or obese.

Similarly, Fayval Williams, the minister of education, revealed that throughout the previous seven years, obesity and overweight incidence had continued to rise.

Williams said that the ministry aimed to raise by 83 per cent the number of schools that satisfy the nutritional needs of children and by 85 per cent the number of institutions that provide mandatory physical activity at all grade levels.

“Our children’s best potential is realised when they not only learn in academics, on a chalkboard in a classroom, but they also achieve the full development where nutrition and their physical state and mental state is absolutely fundamental to their development,” Tufton said.

He encouraged schools to stand up to manufacturers and suppliers and insist that they reformulate their products to fall in line with ideal nutritional standards.

Both ministries have also committed to collaborate with local farmers to improve offerings at school canteens.

Brigette Pinto, vice-principal of Immaculate Conception High, told The Gleaner that there needs to be a change in the mindset of many school administrators in order for implementation to be effective.

“It’s not going to be easy, but it’s a necessary policy,” she said, adding that the greatest challenging was the lack of promotion of healthy eating habits, including the consumption of vegetables.

Another point of debate is affordability – a critical concern for parents buffeted by double-digit inflation.

But Pinto is urging parents and guardians to make the sacrifice for good nutrition.

“[It] takes a conscious effort and decision made at the home to have certain kinds of meals. ... We have to set examples,” she said.