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The Daily Herald writes that Body, Mind and Spirit Foundation (BMSF), in collaboration with Saba University School of Medicine (SUSOM), conducted healthy eating, hydration and behavioural workshops for Saba Comprehensive School youth on Wednesday. The Girl Power and Real Men workshops were facilitated by over 60 medical students in three subsequent sessions, also dealing with peer pressure, bullying and “sexting.”
BMSF first implemented Girl Power in 2008. It is designed to enhance self-esteem and gender pride in girls ages 13-18. In 2011, BMSF implemented a parallel programme for young men on the island promoting positive male role models in the community. As of 2012, the youth programmes have been implemented by SUSOM medical students under supervision of Dr. Ramona Dumitrescu.
The purpose is to train teens to deal constructively with the physical, emotional and social changes experienced during puberty, while at the same time creating awareness about sexually-transmitted infections and means of protection. The importance of proper hydration featured highly in Wednesday’s workshop, covering everything from its role in the functioning of each bodily organ to water purification. The second topic covered age-specific healthy eating behaviour; the third session of presentations covered issues of risky sexual behaviour, teenage pregnancy and contraception, as well as sexting, bullying and sleep deprivation.
The medical students provided tips about how to set up healthy habits and quizzed the youth on these topics. Interactive components encouraged youths to actively take charge of their nutrition habits as this may help prevent a host of potential diseases and health risk factors. They discussed the pervasiveness of overly- processed junk food in their diets. The youth also learned how to read nutrition labels on products. Students played a “Saba Jeopardy” game with points awarded for knowledge of vitamins, minerals, food groups, herbs, spices, diets and diseases, as well as ethnic food dishes; the game not only tested knowledge. The survey may also become a data resource for assessing nutritional habits of Saba’s youth.
