Culture shift needed to accept healthier diet, says Fray

WESTERN BUREAU:

Amid the discussions about the Government’s plan to impose a tax on sugary drink as part of its 2026-2027 Budget, Dr Delroy Fray, the clinical coordinator at the Western Regional Health Authority (WRHA), says Jamaicans will need a total cultural shift to accept dietary changes to mprove their health.

In an interview with The Gleaner on Thursday, Fray said that such a shift is necessary in light of the fact that approximately 70 per cent of medical admissions for non-communicable diseases (NCD) across Jamaica are as a result of poor dietary choices.

“If we can create a culture where we take our population off sugary drinks and synthetic food, that investment is going to pay off in five to 10 years, where we are going to see fewer complications from the NCDs being admitted to hospital. People are going to complain, and people who sell those things are going to complain, but it is not healthy food, and we are trying to get people to eat healthy,” said Fray.

“Over 70 per cent of our medical admissions are related to poor control of diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. That is where you get your myocardial impacts, strokes, and all those other things,” continued Fray. “We have to change the culture completely, and we have seen that when the culture is changed, people do much better in their control of NCDs.”

While tabling a proposed $1.44 trillion budget for the 2026-2027 fiscal year on February 12, Finance Minister Fayval Williams announced a Special Consumption Tax on non-alcoholic sweetened beverages set at $0.02 per millilitre. The levy covers drinks with added sugar or artificial and non-nutritive sweeteners, whether locally produced or imported.

Manufacturers and the Opposition have described the move as potentially taking a larger share of income from poorer households. On the other hand, the move has been praised by the Heart Foundation of Jamaica, which has long campaigned for a tax on sugary drinks, including through the ‘Are You Drinking Yourself Sick?’ campaign.

Fray suggested that while Jamaicans can seek out and adapt to healthier food and beverage options, doing so will require additional willing effort.

“You can go to the market and buy complex carbohydrates and fresh fruits and vegetables, which you can get much cheaper at the market than in a supermarket setting, but it means you have to have the time to go down there and do it. You can plant stuff in your backyard, which are much healthier options, and you can juice various things that we have here, although it will be sweet, but not as sweet as those sugary drinks,” he said.

“In fact, one time when I checked one bottle of soda, it had about nine tablespoons of sugar in it, and that is lethal for our people. The thing is, people like the taste of it, and it will take them time to get used to the taste of something else. They might rebel about it, but when you get used to the taste, you realise that it is not hard to adapt to,” he added.

According to the Ministry of Health and Wellness’ Non-Communicable Disease and Injury Prevention Unit, seven out of every 10 Jamaicans died in 2015 from four major NCDs – cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and chronic lower respiratory disease.

The MOHW’s April 2023 Vitals Non-Communicable Diseases Edition publication identified unhealthy diet as a risk factor for NCDs, with 45.6 per cent of children ages 13 to 17 years consuming carbonated beverages two or more times daily, and 12.3 per cent of Jamaicans 15 years and older consuming sugar-sweetened beverages two or more times daily.

christopher.thomas@gleanerjm.com