Marshall Islands was once a subsistence nation living off of local produce and ocean food. However due to colonization and Westernization, the country has transitioned to a diet consisting of imported and processed food. Today more than 60% of adults in Marshall Islands are obese or overweight and more than 20% have diabetes. Children are especially at risk as poor nutrition while in youth and adolescence affects physical development and eating habits. Recent surveys show that almost no children in Marshall Islands eat vegetables and fruits as part of their daily diet, and there is a lack of infrastructure to do physical activity.Objectives To prevent obesity and diabetes through implementation of a whole-of-community approach with emphasis on interventions at kindergarten and primary school level
1. Development of country-specific, comprehensive teaching material (incl. a ‘workbook’) on healthy lifestyle and diet targeting children aged 4 to 8 years (kindergarten/primary school); a separate and first ever curriculum on ‘physical education’ also to be developed.2. Capacity building of teachers with focus on new teaching modalities as per workbook/curriculum developed; two teachers appointed as ‘teacher champions’ and provided additional skills and resources.3. Capacity building of school food vendors through training incl. provision of recipe books and cooking tuition with emphasis on revitalisation of diet based on locally available products.4. Establishing of kitchen gardens at targeted primary schools incl. institutionalisation of gardening, basic biology, basic cooking etc.5. Establishing of ‘safe playground areas’ at targeted primary schools in order to avail necessary structures (currently inexistent) for physical activity of children in the age group intended.6. Preparation and roll-out of larger scale awareness and health promotion campaigns across entire target area incl ‘health fairs’, media/radio activities, billboards, public cooking demonstrations etc.
1,658 children aged 4 to 8 years and 1,847 parents trained in prevention of diabetes 8 primary schools strengthened, 216 teachers trained and teaching materials developed8 school gardens built