Call for Caribbean Wellness to become a regional priority

If we want a healthier Caribbean tomorrow, we must give children and young people a meaningful role in shaping it today.

What if creating a healthier Caribbean does not begin with telling young people what to eat, how to exercise or how to live but by giving them the knowledge, confidence and voice to shape healthier choices for themselves and their communities?

For many young people across the Caribbean, wellness is not simply a matter of knowing what the “right” choice is. It is about whether we have the opportunity and environment to make that choice. We are told to eat healthier, but nutritious food may not always be the most accessible or affordable option. We are encouraged to be active, but safe and inclusive spaces to move are not also available or well maintained. We are told to take care of our mental health, yet conversations about mental well-being can still be met with stigma, silence or uncertainty about where to seek support. We cannot keep telling young people to make healthier choices without asking whether we are making those choices practical, affordable and accessible.

This is why the theme for Caribbean Wellness Day 2026 to ‘Engage, Empower and Elevate Youth’ matters.Wellness is not about individual behaviour, it is a shared responsibility that requires a multi-sectoral approach, supportive cultures and environments, accessible services and inclusive policies that enable young people to thrive.

To engage young people means more than asking young people for their opinions. It requires listening to us early, visibility in creating spaces where our own experiences and ideas can shape decisions, influence change and opportunities for action.

In a world where challenges facing our communities can feel larger than any one person, empowering young people means giving us knowledge, confidence and support to make informed decisions. It also means reminding us that asking for help, speaking honestly about how we feel and supporting another is not a weakness. Mental health is part of our wellness, and the invisible challenges we carry deserve the same attention as those we can see.

To elevate means recognising that young people are not simply beneficiaries of health interventions. We are ambassadors of change, innovators, advocates, leaders and partners in improving health outcomes across our communities and the Caribbean.

The Healthy Caribbean Coalition’s Hope for the Future 3.0 initiative demonstrates what this looks like. Through interactive youth-centred activities, children and youth across six islands explored ultra-processed foods, food marketing and the forces influencing their choices. In Trinidad and Tobago, they were not simply told what was healthy vs unhealthy. Children questioned what they were seeing, explored how marketing influences choices and imaged what a healthier school environment could look like through the “My Dream School” component of the activity. That is the kind of wellness conversation we need, one that does not blame young people for the environments they inherit, but equips them to help transform them.

Caribbean Wellness must therefore become a regional priority; policymakers, businesses, schools, and civil society organizations must work together to create environments in which healthier choices are not only encouraged, but also practical and accessible so that it becomes the norm. The Caribbean has a unique opportunity to redefine what wellness looks like for our region, the rising burden of NCDs, food insecurity and climate change unites us in a way that allows us to tailor our solutions.

Ultimately a healthier Caribbean cannot be created by simply telling people to make better choices. So, let us engage young people. Empower us, elevate us, because we are not waiting to become the future of the Caribbean. We are already helping shape it today.

(Contributed for Caribbean Wellness Day, September 12, 2026, by Chelsea Antoine- CARPHA public health and project management professional; Latifah Holder-public health specialist; and Danielle Mullings-multidisciplinary professional and member of the RJR Gleaner Youth Advisory Board who are members of Healthy Caribbean Youth, the youth arm of the Healthy Caribbean Coaltion).