With data from the Ministry of Health showing that in 2014 alone non-communicable diseases (NCDs) – specifically diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and chronic respiratory disease – accounting for 12,773 or 68 per cent of all deaths in Jamaica, the Seventh-day Adventist church, through its Health Ministries department, has launched a healthy lifestyle initiative dubbed ‘I Want to Live Healthy’.
The initiative seeks to encourage members and the wider society to adopt healthy lifestyles in part or full, including a plant-based diet including fruits, vegetables, grains, legumes and nuts; regular exercise, sufficient intake of water, fresh air and sunshine, rest and a connection with God through prayer.
“We believe that with the impact that NCDs have on the society where the deaths far exceed that of our worrisome crime rate, it is time for each individual to adopt and maintain a healthy lifestyle,” said Pastor Dudley Hosin, Health Ministries Director of the Jamaica Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.
“As a Church we view the holistic nature of mankind through his health and wellbeing which is to say the physical, mental, social and spiritual, which are all impacted by the health habits of each individual.”
The launch took place on Saturday at the Mandeville Seventh-day Adventist Church in Mandeville.
