FAST FOOD KILLING TRINIS

TRINIDAD and Tobago is one of the most badly affected nations in the world by fast food, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has just indicated.

At least three out of every five deaths in T&T are caused by diabetes, high blood pressure, strokes, heart attacks, and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

NCDs also include cancer, respiratory diseases, sickle cell diseases, and mental illness.

One in three Trinis is obese, making T&T the sixth highest in the world, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation.

T&T is the most obese land in Caricom and only 1.8 per cent behind the United States, which is overridden with what is called “a complex disease.”

Unhealthy diets are a primary cause, and fast food – processed, with high salt and sugar, and trans-fat – is a main culprit.

At the same time, the country’s major fast food retailer has just chalked up a 55 per cent increase in annual profit.

And, most belatedly, Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh is talking about “robust action” on non-communicable diseases and on plans to speak with fast food operators.

Deyalsingh now aims to meet the bosses of “the mega brands especially” to discuss “how they market their products” and to urge them to “offer healthy options for food and drink.”

But don’t expect any success from the minister’s overdue action.

Prestige Holdings, which has 129 fast food stores across the land, plans to “build on the progress made last year,’ according to Chairman Victor Mouttet.

The company did $1.1 billion worth of business in its most recent fiscal year.

Consumers say the cost of the popular chicken-and-chips has just gone up.

Prestige aims to expand on its “innovation and progress” of the past year, with “digital, delivery, and drive-thru channels.”

Those features would “drive growth going forward.”

In other words, in-your-face fast food marketing would be even more prevalent.

Traditional and social media advertisements, billboards, and deals add to easy accessibility and a generally appealing outlook.

Pan-American Health Organisation Director Dr. Jarbas Barbosa said that “multinational corporations are using aggressive marketing strategies to encourage the increased consumption of fast food by teenagers, adolescents, and children.”

WHO has just announced it would “implement strategies aimed at prevention and management” of NCDs in T&T and a few other selected countries.

Deyalsingh admitted the devastating” health consequences but his response is merely “moral suasion.”

The Ministry of Health receives more than $6 billion a year, much of it used to combat the impact of NCDs caused the rampant fast food.

The profit-driven fast food sector is not deterred.

“New stores are planned during the financial year,” Prestige’s chairman said.