The Courts Customer Celebration continued last Thursday, April 23rd, alerting customers of the need to eat well, exercise and get their blood pressure checked.{{more}}

The Nutrition Unit, Nurses from the Community Nursing Service and Personnel from Villamar Ltd. visited Courts to take part in that company’s customer celebration, which includes making customers aware of healthy life choices.

Members of the Nutrition Unit: Lafleur Burgin and Nadia Browne, were on hand to measure persons’ Body Mass Index (BMI), a measurement that determines one’s ideal weight in relation to height. Browne told Searchlight that most of the persons tested had Body Mass Indices which indicated that they were overweight. “Most persons we saw this morning were in the overweight category where their BMI was between 28 and 29.9,” she said.

Browne also noticed that those persons had “abdominal obesity”, which she says can contribute to diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. She recommended that persons eat well and exercise. “Eat more vegetables, more fruits and also eat more peas and beans,” she said.

These recommendations for healthy living also came from Nurse Mclean of the Enhams Clinic who said that a healthy diet, exercise and medication are needed for persons who are hypertensive. Mclean indicated that the normal level for blood sugar is between 90 and 120 milligrams and the normal blood pressure level is from 120/70 to 130/90. Anything above that, she noted, must be checked to determine if the person is indeed hypertensive.

Helping in the area of a healthy diet was Villamar Ltd who gave samples of yogurt and cake to customers. According to Manager of Villamar, Miguel Despointes, his company produces a variety of products including yogurt, which is produced every day, as well as Callaloo, and a variety of samosas.

One customer, who spoke to Searchlight, described the Villamar yogurt cake as “very good”. She also commended Courts on their initiative to improve customer health. “I think it’s a very good idea.”

Marketing Executive at Courts, Alexis John, overseeing the events at Courts on Thursday, encouraged customers to take part in the activities. Several members of the Courts staff were also seen having their blood pressure and glucose levels checked. John also confirmed to Searchlight that one customer with an elevated blood pressure had been taken to the hospital for treatment.

The Courts Customer Celebration continues until May 21st 2009 and will include participation from organizations such as the SVG Cancer Society, Mountain Top Spring water and the Ministry of Sports. (OS)