CARPHA Champions urgent Regional action to prevent Childhood Obesity

On World Obesity Day, March 4, a unified day of action to raise awareness and drive solutions for its prevention and treatment, the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) joined the global community in recognising obesity as a serious and complex public health challenge.

With over one billion people worldwide currently living with obesity, the Regional Public Health Agency said this public health concern requires urgent, coordinated action at every level of society. Obesity is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a “chronic, relapsing disease arising from complex interactions between genetics, neurobiology (biology of the nervous system), eating behaviours, access to healthy diet, market forces, and the broader environment”.

This year’s theme, “8 Billion Reasons to Act on Obesity” underscores that obesity affects people across all ages, countries and communities with a particular focus on protecting vulnerable populations, especially children. World Obesity Day 2026 highlighted both the scale of the challenge, from rising childhood obesity to widening inequalities, and the opportunity to create healthier, fairer systems for everyone.

In the Caribbean region, one in three children is overweight or obese, underscoring the urgent need for prevention efforts beginning early in life. Childhood obesity significantly increases the risk of obesity in adolescence and adulthood, heightening the likelihood of developing non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cardiovascular diseases (heart disease and stroke), diabetes, cancers and chronic respiratory diseases. NCDs remain the leading cause of illness, disability and death in the Region. Further, the Pan American Health Organization’s (PAHO) data portal on NCDs, noted that three CARPHA Member States (CMS) are among the top 20% of countries globally with the highest prevalence of overweight and obesity: The Bahamas, St Kitts and Nevis and Belize.

CARPHA, in collaboration with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat, established the Six-Point

Policy Package (6-PPP) in 2017, a regional framework designed to promote healthier food environments and improve food security through coordinated policy action.

The 6-PPP outlines six priority policy areas:

1. Food Labelling (including front-of-package warning labels)

2. Nutrition Standards and Guidelines for Schools and Other Institutions

3. Regulation of Food Marketing

4. Improvement of Nutritional Quality of the Food Supply

5. Trade and Fiscal Policies

6. Food Chain Incentives.

Executive Director of CARPHA, Dr. Lisa Indar indicated that “CARPHA’s Six Point Policy Package (6-PPP) recommends policies and actions that promote healthier food environments and food security to reduce childhood obesity in the Caribbean. In 2025, CARPHA, in collaboration with PAHO/WHO, developed “Technical Recommendations for the Development of Nutrition Standards for Caribbean Schools”.

These recommendations aim to create enabling school environments that reduce the availability and consumption of unhealthy foods and beverages, while promoting healthy eating habits among children.

CARPHA’s Technical Recommendations for the Development of Nutrition Standards for Caribbean Schools apply to all foods and beverages cooked or packaged, sold or provided free in primary and secondary schools.

CARPHA noted that schools represent a critical opportunity to influence child dietary behaviours at the population level, making the adoption of national nutrition standards essential to safeguarding the health of Caribbean children.

Dr. Indar further noted that, “A whole of society approach is also recommended, this is why CARPHA launched the Caribbean Moves initiative in 2022, which focuses on risk reduction measures such as physical activity, proper nutrition and knowing your numbers”.

On World Obesity Day, CARPHA called on governments, civil society, communities, families and individuals to recognise that obesity is not a personal failure, but a complex chronic disease shaped by systems and environments. Acting across all levels will move the Region closer to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3.4 of reducing premature mortality from NCDs by one third by 2030, it said. “With eight billion reasons to act, the time for coordinated, sustained action is now.”