Health Ministry head of wellness Dr Devina Nand says almost 67 per cent of Fiji’s population is overweight – increasing the risk of diabetes and non-communicable diseases.
She also said 80 per cent were not eating enough fruit and vegetables and this has resulted in a high rate of anaemia.
“It also means that we have a very high chance of dying young and a lot of people die at 40 and 35 and it’s linked with what we do, how we live and what we eat,” she said.
While speaking to residents of the Nabua Muslim league settlement, she said the ministry had a healthy settings program with communities, settlements, schools and villages where they undertook health screening.
“So we take your blood pressure, sugar levels, height and weight and we’ll try and tell you how healthy you are.
Dr Nand said Fiji had such good soil and if people did not grow food in their back yards then the community was “failing in a huge way”.
“One of the ways we come in and work with your communities — we provide seeds and we provide materials so you can do your community gardens and we will support that.”
She said community gardens were a passion for her and because 80 per cent of the population did not consume fruits and vegetables, people did not receive adequate nutrients.
“A lot of people are anaemic and it simply means that we don’t have enough iron in our diet and it’s from our children to our women to our men.
“That’s the recent survey and statistics that we have — that even our men are unhealthy because our men don’t eat well either.”