The Chief Tree Initiative – Eat Healthy To Be Healthy

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Chief Tree Initiative was unveiled at the Union Orchid Garden in Castries on May 15, 2018. The project—the brain child of Ms. Petra Auguste of Gros Islet—was developed to address the growing incidence of childhood obesity, diabetes and hypertension in preschoolers in Saint Lucia. One of the main components at the unveiling was the launch of ‘Chief Tree Appears’. The book, authored by Ms. Auguste, features a main character called Chief Tree, whose tag line is ‘Eat Healthy to Be Healthy’.

Findings of a survey which was undertaken in nine randomly selected preschools using three hundred students were presented. They demonstrated that the Chief Tree character, books, jingle, video and smocks had an overwhelming positive ability to change students’ knowledge, attitudes and practices as pertains to food choices, inclusion of local fruits and vegetables in their diets and interest in their health and wellbeing.

The project was conducted in collaboration with the St Lucia Network of Rural Women Producers (SLNRWP) with funding from the Global Environmental Facility, Small Grants Programme of the United Nations Development Programme (GEF SGP UNDP) and technical assistance from Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).

In addressing the audience, Ms. Auguste stated, “The initiative was created as a sustainable motivator to mitigate against diabetes, hypertension and childhood obesity in Saint Lucia. The research was based on the eating habits of children aged from two to five years in addressing non-communicable diseases. What would we be able do if those same children could have the power to ask for something healthy as opposed to something unhealthy? We know through characters like Barney and Dora and SpongeBob, Pepper Pig and so on, that these characters do have an impact on our children. I, along with my graphic artist, came up with this character that we called “Chief Tree” to assist in encouraging food behavioural changes in children.”

In addressing attendees, Mr. Giles Romulus, National Coordinator of GEF SGP UNDP said “Chief Tree is an important project to us because it fits within the over 80 projects we have in Saint Lucia, particularly those that focus on reducing chemicals.  We want to see healthy Saint Lucians, we want to see a healthy world, and we cannot do that if we continue to use toxic chemicals.”

At the conclusion of the event Ms. Auguste stated, “It is of paramount importance that we get stakeholders’ support because we realize Chief Tree has deep roots, it can have many branches, and can bear fruit, which will be beneficial, not just locally, but regionally and internationally.”

Many individuals and groups attended the event, including representatives from the Taiwanese, Brazilian and French embassies, government ministries and local schools.   

In the next few weeks Ms. Auguste will be embarking on a book-signing tour throughout the island to bring the initiative and its benefits to local communities.