Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said the Ministry has noted that 91 percent of Trinidadians are not eating enough fresh fruits and vegetables. According to a study done by the Ministry of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) Unit, 90 percent of people surveyed are eating less than five servings of fresh fruits and vegetables a day.
Deyalsingh said the RHAs conducted outreaches and they're currently compiling the data, however the total number of people surveyed wasn't made clear at the briefing.
"What we're noticing is the high number of persons presenting with unknown hypertension, unknown diabetes and so on. "Some of the data that we have collected so far... from literature and desk reviews, the situational analysis shows that NCDs account for 62 percent of deaths annually. By condition, the leading causes are heart disease, 25 percent; diabetes, 17 percent, cancers, 17 percent and stroke, 9 percent."
Deyalsingh said they're still processing data and will try to disseminate messages to encourage people to consume more fresh fruits and vegetables, drink more water and get active.
