JUMP18

I have always wanted to help my island become healthier and live a more active life. Therefore it is important to teach our children how to do this, and this is exactly what “Jump 18” is all about. Teaching the younger generation how to be more active, healthier and reduce the risks of diseases.

I was born and raised in Aruba and very proud to be Aruba’s first Pediatric Physical Therapist. Helping children grow, learn and expand their motor skills and abilities is my passion. I chose to be a part of this wonderful team because of the amazing initiative to help children lose weight while having fun and learning about a healthy lifestyle. My goal is to help Aruban kids be happy AND healthy

I want to help children in Aruba to learn about having a healthy relationship with nutrition and physical activity. This is something I struggled with as a child. Furthermore, I notice that a lot of the non communicable diseases in Aruba, for example diabetes and CVD, are preventable and we need to do something about it.

Many factors in the Aruban environment make it challenging for children to lead a healthy lifestyle. JUMP18 is important to me because it recognizes the complex nature and consequences of childhood obesity. We need to shift our focus from treatment to prevention so that healthcare can remain affordable. Therefore, enabling children to live a healthy life is essential for their future and ours.

Since childhood, I continuously saw the increase of fast-food restaurants on our beautiful island. Till today, inhabitants of Aruba are constantly exposed to highly processed foods, which make them vulnerable to poor nutritional choices and susceptible to cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, high blood pressure and cancer. Therefore, by promoting healthy dietary patterns and the importance of physical activity through JUMP18, I want to achieve healthier lifestyles for children and their parents.