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Archive -Seychelles

New programme to fight obesity |01 September 2014

A group of government ministries and agencies including education, social affairs, community development and sports, health, Seychelles National Youth Council (SNYC), and National Sports Council (NSC) have come together to put in place and implement a new programme aimed at fighting obesity among the youth.

Summarised as a new style of exercising 30 minutes a day, ‘Sey x 30’ can combine physical activities such as walking or swimming, and others requiring minimal space for movement like dancing or aerobics. Or rather, you can simply and easily burn excess fat and keep fit by remaining in the same place while washing or ironing your clothes and performing other domestic duties.

The programme was officially launched by weightlifter and reigning Sportswoman of the Year Clementina Agricole in a short but lively ceremony at the Palais des Sports on Saturday afternoon.

Present in the activity which was part of the weekend Youth Festival were Vice-President Danny Faure, who also has the portfolio for Youth; principal secretary for social affairs Linda William-Melanie and her counterpart responsible for community development and sports Denis Rose.

The School of Dance, Joker Crew, fitness trainer Dorothy Isidore and a small group of young people were also involved in the ceremony.

Addressing the audience, the principal secretary for Youth Alain Volcère described ‘Sey x 30’ as an initiative which can make a difference in the health of our youth. He was here referring to obesity which he said is a real problem among children and adolescents.

He added that the aim of the programme is to bring the obesity problem under control by addressing it in a direct manner at school level.

He concluded that in this way, it will not only be a prevention measure but also a means of eliminating overweight.

On her part, the NSC chief executive Giovanna Rousseau has expressed the wish that physical activity does not stay only among the youth but spreads among all the population in order to make of us a healthy people.

She believes that we must go back to traditions such as walking, and find ways of compensating time of inactivity spent at the computer desk.

Pledging the NSC’s support in terms of infrastructure and training, Ms Rousseau warned that the country will have a lot to lose unless we change our attitude.

“If we want our population to become healthy we will all have to make a move. Life expectancy in Seychelles is high, but if we continue with the trend developed during the last 15 years we will die earlier and our labour force will reduce. The country will also spend more on welfare.” Those were the words of wisdom from the former all-round athlete and badminton and squash champion.

According to Dr Danny Louange of the Ministry of Health, obesity figures have more than doubled in the last 10 years and more than 4,000 secondary students are actually overweight.

‘Sey x 30’ will start at the Pointe Larue secondary school as a pilot project and will become a fully fledged programme within the school curriculum as from next year.

Through its chief executive Vicky Van Der Westhuizen, the SNYC has asked the youths to become the programme’s ambassador by bringing the message home.

Meanwhile, the youth organisation is seeking for sponsorship in order to finance the programme which is seen as a teamwork which will serve as an example of inter-ministerial cooperation.

The SNYC has wished to thank those already on board. They include Mahé Design and Build, Air Seychelles, Seychelles Trading Company (STC) and Oliver Bastienne

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