 Lisa Hunt, Chief Nutritionist, Ministry of Health, we are observing Caribbean Nutrition Day every year on the 1st of June, which is followed by Caribbean Awareness Month. Caribbean Nutrition Awareness Month and so we have activities throughout the month of June. We have some planned activities in the regions at the wellness centers where the staff will be talking about nutrition and how it affects the mental health. Now the reason for this, the theme for this year is nourish to flourish your mental health matters. Post COVID, many people were dealing with mental health issues and there is a very strong link between nutrition and mental health. You know, before you think about nutrition, most people will think that, you know, you eat well to have a healthy physical body. However, mental health and nutrition has a very strong link and it's always sort of a new science but the way you eat can affect your mental health and for example, there are actually nutrients from the food that can be associated with anxiety, depression, even your mood. So the way you feel can be influenced by what you consume. So let me expand on that. For example, trans fats, saturated fats, processed foods tend to increase inflammation in your body and in your brain and that can affect your mental health. Then on the other hand, when you consume foods like your fruits, like colored fruits, like dark green leafy vegetables, your omega-free fatty acids, your B vitamins, these help your brain to function well and so it is important that we pay attention to what we consume as we know that there is a strong link between the two. And so this is what we will be doing this month, for the month, is to educate people, provide information on how what they consume can affect their mental health. And like I said, post-COVID, you find most people have mental health issues and the world, not just in Central Asia, but the Caribbean and the world at large, after coming from COVID-19, that people were suffering from mental health. And so physical activity is another important factor and even doing the minimum like three days a week, brisk walking, three days a week for 30 minutes can improve your mental health. So it is important that people pay attention to what they eat and how physically active they are. Well, we have nutrition officers at the wellness centers and so if persons need more information, they could always call their wellness center and make an appointment to see the nutritionist or the nutrition officer. Now even throughout the month we'll be going to the schools and talking about the importance of nutrition and mental health because sugar, like you know, children consume a lot of sugar at schools and sugar is one of the critical nutrients it's called that is very bad for mental health because of the inflammation that it can cause on the body. And so we will be going to the schools and talking to the children about the importance of nutrition in ensuring that they eat well and you know, when a child it's very healthy, they tend to do better because the brain, we're talking about cognition, the brain, so they're able to perform better at school and so we want them to understand that if they eat well that they will perform better at school. So at the wellness centers we'll be talking to the, you know, the clients and let them understand the important role that nutrition plays in ensuring that they are healthy, not just physically but mentally because when you think about nutrition most times we think of NCDs but nutrition plays a much bigger role in autoimmune diseases, in mental health issues and feeling healthier and well overall. When you eat well, even your self-esteem, because your mood kind of has a link to your self-esteem, so if you are eating better, you feel better about yourself, you are more alert, you are able to concentrate better and so that makes you, you know, feel better and you know, perform better at work, at school overall and when you think about health it's not only about your physical health but your mental health is important and so we usually, in Tainlutia, when we hear about mental health issues it's a bit taboo but you could be walking and you know looking like a viable human being and have mental health issues, you know, people that can be depressed and that's a mental health issue, you are, you have anxiety, that's mental health issues and so we want persons to know that if they are not eating well, you know, that they can, you know, be affected by mental health issues as well. So I want to highlight again some of the foods that will help your mental health, enhance your mental health, you want to ensure you have adequate fruits and vegetables, focus on colors, foods that are higher in red, green, yellows, the more color they have, the more antioxidants they have, the more phytochemicals that helps your brain improve your brain health, you want to avoid trans fats, avoid sugars, saturated fats, processed foods are extremely bad for your mental health and so we want to limit the intake of processed foods, focus on having your nuts, peas, beans, seeds, these are brain health foods, your fatty fish, not every day but at least two to three times in the week you want to have some fish, fatty fish, high omega free fatty acids will help with your brain health, vitamin E from your foods.