Vision

All residents living healthy lifestyles throughout life.

Mission

To reduce illness, disability and death due to lifestyle related diseases.

Overview

Health statistics indicate high incidences of chronic non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, chronic respiratory disease, heart disease and cancer. For example, 45% of deaths in 2003 were due to chronic non-communicable diseases.

Preliminary data from the National Chronic Non-communicable Disease Survey, March 2006 (1,424 persons surveyed in 637 households in New Providence, Grand Bahama and Long Island)

• 21% had been diagnosed with high blood pressure
• 26% of those measured had elevated blood pressure
• 7% had been diagnosed with diabetes
• 12% had impaired and elevated fasting glucose on measurement (often used as an indicator for diabetes)
• 70% were overweight
• 8.8% were current smokers
• 64.5% described themselves as sedentary in leisure time
• 47% did not eat at least 1 fruit everyday
• 51% did not eat vegetables everyday
• 33% had “fast food” 2 or more times per week

Often times, chronic non-communicable diseases can be avoided through the adoption of healthy lifestyles. Far too many residents continue to make poor lifestyle choices that adversely affect their health and the health of their families. This more often than not translates into decreased quality of life and financial stress due to increased health burdens.

Healthy lifestyle can be defined as a way of life that promotes and protects health and well-being. This often includes practices such as eating nutrient rich foods that are moderate in calories and fat, exercising on most days, avoiding tobacco, drug and alcohol abuse and proper stress management.

The Ministry of Health has decided to implement an even more holistic approach to helping residents adopt and sustain healthy lifestyles, in order to continue to meet the country’s health needs.

Objectives:

• To reduce prevalence of smoking, physical inactivity and unhealthy eating.
• To carry out health promotion and education around the above.
• To lobby for the institutionalisation of healthy lifestyle practices in work and organisation settings.
• To implement monitoring and evaluation of healthy lifestyle programming nationally.
• To support research on behaviour modification in the area of health. 
• To provide policy from a Governmental and Ministry level that supports healthy lifestyles nationally.
  

The Initiative is founded on a well grounded population health approach, and uses collaboration and community team building to foster its aims and objectives. The Healthy Lifestyle Secretariat was established, November 2005 to provide administrative coordination of the activities of the Initiative.

Flag-ship programmes used to accomplish these objectives
 

• The Healthy Lifestyle Programme – The Healthy Dozen Club
• The Healthy Lifestyles Passport

Related links:

Healthy Workplace Suggestions
Healthy Lifestyle Initiative Calendar of Events

For more information, please contact:

Ministry of Health
Capital House
P O Box N 3730
Nassau, N.P.
The Bahamas
Tel. (242) 328-0040
Opening hours: 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday to Friday, except public holidays