Deep down, most of us know what constitutes a healthy, balanced diet, and how important it is to have home-cooked meals and five portions of fruit and vegetables every day.
The reality of our daily lives, however, can make this difficult to achieve. Not only are fast or processed foods easy and tempting, but long working hours or budgetary constraints can make providing regular healthy meals seem out of reach.
Unfortunately, the health consequences of this can be detrimental, especially for children and teens. In Bermuda, during the 2024-25 school year, for example, 23 per cent of five-year-olds assessed through school health screenings were classified as overweight or obese, putting them at a higher risk of developing chronic medical conditions later in their lives.
While there are no official figures for children in other age groups, Dr Sylvanus Nawab, chief of paediatrics at the Bermuda Hospitals Board and partner at Bermuda Pediatric Center, estimated that the overall percentage for children in Bermuda is actually higher.
“Probably a third to half of our patients are overweight,” he said.
Why does diet matter?
A healthy balanced diet is particularly important for children and teens whose minds and bodies are growing and developing.
Dr Nawab explained that children are “building blocks”.
He said: “Your cells are reproducing. You’re growing. When you’re building, you want to have a solid foundation, so nutrition is key so your cells are nourished and you’re not really endangering yourself by putting things that can harm your body.”
Why do our children have unhealthy diets?
One well-known cause is food insecurity and, according to the Ministry of Health, in a 2023 Omnibus Survey, 30 per cent of residents reported that the food they bought didn’t last and they lacked money to buy more “at least sometimes”.
But, emphasised Dr Nawab, this isn’t the only reason, because even when families are able to afford good food, they might not understand what constitutes healthy food or how to prepare it.
“Knowledge about what’s creating a healthy lifestyle also plays a part. It crosses many socio-economic levels. It doesn’t mean that if you have the purchasing power you’re making the right choices.
“There are people who don’t have the purchasing power, but they know how to eat well and how to eat right. They know how to prepare and plan.”
He uses beets as an example.
“A lot of people take the top off the beets and throw the greens away. Whereas I pick up those greens and I sauté them and I eat them. That’s education. The whole nutrition package is not just the beets but also the leaves are part of what you can eat.”
Cauliflower is another example of a vegetable with tasty, nutritious leaves that often get thrown away.
Even without the pressures of time and money, persuading children to eat healthily isn’t always easy. Dr Nawab however, uses analogies young people can relate to.
“I tell my teens, think of your body as a Ferrari car. You’re not going to put any kind of gas in it. You’re going to put high premium gas.
“The choice of drinking a soda versus drinking water. Making the choices of, ‘I go to KFC or I get a nice sandwich.’ Teaching those good healthy habits plays a role.”
Addressing root causes
Government and community organisations run a number of programmes to educate families and make healthy food more accessible.
A passionate advocate for this issue is Bermuda is Love founder, Aaron Crichlow, whose organisation runs a school breakfast programme at Elliot Primary School three mornings a week.
“We feed them pancakes, bacon, egg, croissants, French toast, breakfast sandwiches, egg and cheese sandwiches, grilled cheese sandwiches,” he explained.
There’s always a grain and each breakfast comes with fruit. It’s been a huge success.
“We’ve done surveys with the children. 99 per cent of them want the programme to be daily. 100 per cent of them want the breakfast programme to continue. They appreciate the benefit of having a meal in the morning, eating with their friends.”
It’s also helping their schoolwork, with teachers reporting that the children not only want to be at school on time, but they are also paying more attention during morning classes.
In addition to the school feeding programme, Bermuda is Love runs a gardening club at Elliot where they teach children how to grow their own food.
“Creating our own gardens from scratch, teaching the kids about composting, about different soils. We’ve collaborated with Chris Faria and Jonathan Lightbourne from Agra Living and Nature’s Compass,” Mr Crichlow said.
They also take children on farm tours.
“We’re trying to get that exposure to what’s going on in Bermuda. What the challenge is and how they have to be responsible for addressing it, for providing food for themselves.”
To support residents who want to grow their own food, eat healthier and save money, the government launched Grow.Eat.$ave in 2016, which has proved popular.
Minister of Health Kim Wilson said: “Data from the programme shows that 69 per cent of participants increased their fruit and vegetable intake to five or more servings per day, and 25 per cent are actively working toward that goal.”
If you don’t have a garden, there are a number of community gardens around the island, which are accessible to the public.
Food know-how
Having access to healthy food is vital, but knowing how to prepare it is also important. Mr Crichlow would love to see more lessons in schools oriented towards cooking and eating healthily on a budget.
Dr Nawab said: “How do we change the paradigm? By starting to make the changes in the kids who are growing now.
“In ten years, a four- or five-year-old now will be 14, 15, they will be much healthier than what we are now. They are much more prone to making the right choices because we’ve taught them.”
