In response to the growing incidence of lifestyle diseases in Jamaica, the Ministry of Health and Wellness announced on Monday (May 17), that it will be launching a ‘Better For You’ programme, which will be available at select restaurants islandwide.

The ‘Better For You’ programme was birthed from the national change agenda on lifestyle or non-communicable diseases (NCDs) programme ‘Jamaica Moves’, where participants indicated that due to their hectic schedules they were unable to properly prepare meals at home, thus turning to restaurants to provide their daily meals.

Using this information the health ministry, under the leadership of Dr Christopher Tufton, devised a programme alongside leading select restaurant chains, which would allow persons to have recognisable healthier meal options, marked as “better for you” at participating locations.

According to Tufton, “In public health, we must accept the cultural shifts in our society away from home-cooked meals to restaurant meals and respond by encouraging consumer choice towards healthier options… . This is what the ‘Better for You’ menu designation is intended to do.”

The health ministry’s plan is to, over time, promote the design of healthier meal choices in all types of food establishments. However, for the time being, it is appreciative of the initial collaboration with select restaurant chains.

Maurice Sloley, operations manager of Wendy’s, and Andrei Roper, brand manager of KFC, have both expressed their support for the ministry’s initiative towards making Jamaica an overall healthier society.

The ‘Better For You’ programme will be represented by a special icon affixed to the menu offering and available at participating locations of KFC, Wendy’s, Pizza Hut, Burger King, Popeyes, Little Caesars, Island Grill and Juici Patties.