In Ya Kitchen Supports ‘It’s Snack Time’

Basseterre, St. Kitts, February 01, 2023:​ ‘It’s Snack Time’ an animation which focuses on promoting healthy snacking in children was launched on Tuesday, January 31 at the CUNA Conference Centre. This health-conscious initiative was a collaboration between the Ministry of Education, the Curriculum Development Unit, Lake Health Wellbeing, and the Republic of China \ Taiwan ICDF.

Addressing the audience Mr. William Chen, Taiwan ICDF and Ministry of Health representative outlined how ‘In Ya Kitchen’, a Ministry of Health project will collaborate with the “It’s Snack Time” initiative in promoting healthy snacking amongst the young. 

“To tackle Non-Communicable Diseases, the Ministry of Health and Taiwan ICDF has developed the ‘In Ya Kitchen’ program as a Chronic Disease Self Management tool. In 2022, The ‘In Ya Kitchen’ program expanded its influence on the community with a number of interactive and engaging activities. In 2023, we hope to continue this successful trend by engaging our youth population on both islands. The goal is to reduce the prevalence of childhood obesity,” expressed Mr. Chen.

Outlining the type of support that would be provided, Mr. Chen elucidated, “This year ‘In Ya Kitchen’ will launch several competitions that focus on healthy habits. These competitions will engage children at the elementary level and the secondary level.”

The competitions will include; Essay Writing; Poster creation; composition of poetry and rap music as well as a Junior Top Chef Competition. The Junior top Chef competition is slated to start Monday, April 17, 2023, and end Monday, August 14, 2023. Mr. Chen expressed that the winner of each competition will advance to the grand finale scheduled to be held during the nation’s Independence celebrations.

“A collection of recipes from the competition will be published in a cookbook and some will be featured in the 2024 ‘In Ya Kitchen’ calendar. ‘In Ya Kitchen’ and Lake Health and Wellbeing remain committed to combating childhood obesity and reducing the impact of Non-Communicable Diseases,” concluded Mr. Chen.