A review of the health risk behaviours among adolescents in the Englishspeaking Caribbean: 2006 to 2020

• Adolescents comprise around 25% of the Caribbean population. Past studies report that the challenges faced by this target group include substance use, mental health, violence, high risk sexual behaviours such as HIV, juvenile delinquency, obesity, accidents and injuries, among others. • Through the understanding of the adolescent health risk behaviours, challenges, their health risks and protective factors, can we then comprehend and generate solutions to the challenges faced by youth in the Caribbean. This review will focus on the years 2006-2020, where we will determine what has or has not changed from the last review (from 1985-2005) and what solutions can be implemented.

Vitals: A quarterly report of the Ministry of Health & Wellness, Jamaica 2019

This document looks at health trends and statistics in Jamaica. This issue focuses on data collected on child and adolescent health from birth to 19 years old and basic health indicators for children for the year 2019.

Association between obesity and lung function among teenagers in Trinidad

OBJECTIVE: To examine association between obesity and lung function among teenagers in Trinidad. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: This study is part of an ongoing five-year cohort study in which five schools in the St.George East educational district of Trinidad were selected and students entering form one were followed up to form three (2012 to 2015). A questionnaire was completed on previous pulmonary disorders, eating and exercise habits along with demographic data. Data were available on 584 male students and 502 female students for three years. Descriptive analyses were performed according to year. General linear model analyses were performed to determine relationship of lung function variable ratio (forcedexpiratory volume in 1st second/forced vital capacity[FEV1/FVC]) to independent variables. RESULTS: Analysis of variance, according to year, showed that among the male students, FEV1, FVC, forced expiratory flow (FEF), peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR)in L/min, waist circumference, diastolic and systolic blood pressure, age and FEV1/FVC (%) were significant,whereas moderate exercise, FEV1, FVC, FEF, PEFR, age and FEV1/FVC (%) were significant in female students. The mean (year of study) PEFR in males were 285 (1), 302(2) and 384 (3). The mean (year of study) PEFR in females were 273 (1), 278 (2) and 338 (3). General linear model analysis showed PEFR to be a common significant factor for FEV1/FVC in both male and female students. In addition to PEFR, age, body mass index (BMI)-for-age-Zscore, ethnicity and interaction of religion and ethnicity were also significant among females. CONCLUSION: Based on results, BMI-for-age-Z-score issignificantly associated with FEV1/FVC in female students, but not in male students.

Policy brief: effective interventions for the prevention of childhood obesity

Excess body fat has both immediate and long-term effects on the health and well-being of children. Childhood obesity is an urgent public health problem in the region and this problem is escalating. To address this matter, this paper was prepared and seeks to answer the following questions: i) what is the current evidence regarding the effectiveness of interventions for preventing obesity in children and adolescents? ii) What are the characteristics of interventions that have proven to be effective? iii) Which program components or design features of efficacious interventions can be applied within the Caribbean context? The purpose of the Policy Brief is to identify the characteristics of interventions that have been evaluated and found to have positive obesity prevention effects, as measured by a reduction or stabilization of BMI or other outcome measures, which may be implemented in the Caribbean Region as effective responses to the burgeoning epidemic. The primary focus of the Brief is on midstream approaches for changing behaviors. Upstream approaches which include broad based public policy action such as laws, regulation and national policies in and of themselves are excluded. The Brief is prepared for decision-makers and program managers with responsibility for developing and implementing nutrition and other health promotion programs for children.

Policy dialogue report: achieving healthy weights among children and adolescents in the Caribbean: “Moving from research to policy to action”

On 30, April 2014, CARPHA hosted a Policy Dialogue in Oranjestad, Aruba on the topic; Achieving Healthy Weights among Children and Adolescents in the Caribbean: “Moving from Research to Policy to Action. Chief Medical Officers from CARPHA Member States were the main audience for this Dialogue which sought to present synthesized research evidence about effective interventions for prevention of obesity; to consider the views and experience of stakeholders; and to foster discussion of actionable steps that could be taken in the Caribbean region.

Safeguarding our future development: plan of action for promoting healthy weights in the Caribbean: prevention and control of childhood obesity: 2014-2019

The Caribbean is in the midst of a childhood obesity epidemic. At least 1 in every 5 of our children are carrying unhealthy weights and are at risk of developing non-communicable diseases later in life. This Plan provides a comprehensive public health response to our problem. It seeks to tackle the underlying variables that produce the obesogenic environments that are fuelling the epidemic but it also supports more direct measures to effect change at the individual and community level as well as to provide clinical, family and psychosocial support for the child who is already affected by overweight/obesity. No response is however complete without giving due consideration to the capacity of the people, systems and institutions that will be called upon to deliver. Our Plan for Action therefore also includes measures to augment capacity in critical area and to effectively monitor progress and measure results.

Child and adolescent mental health in Latin America and the Caribbean: problems, progress, and policy research

The nations of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) have many countrasts in the advances that they made in the areas of child and adolescent mental health policy, research, and training. Within the LAC countries there exist the most sophisticated of child mental health programs based on comprehensive primary care models (Chile), strong advocacy programs with government support at the highest levels (Brazil and Costa Rica), and state-of-the-art research and training programs (Argentina, Brazil, and Chile). Of particular note is the strong understanding and utilization of a rights-based framework for services development throughout LAC. On the other hand, the LAC nations have some of the most intractable child mental health problems seen anywhere on the globe. Inhalant use is endemic in parts of Brazil and Mexico, street children with overt mental health problems go totally unattended in Brazil and elsewhere, and youth crime is epidemic in some LAC cities (AU)