By LAURA MACINTOSH
Wednesday, August 7, 2014. A team of Cricket Fiji staff arrived in Labasa today, for the launch of the second ever Women’s Island Cricket Project in Fiji, which will be launched at the Wailevu Village Bazaar tomorrow.
Following the successful pilot model of the program staged in Dravo on Viti Levu, the aim of the program is to create awareness about the factors that contribute to non-communicable diseases in the high-risk category of middle-aged women.
With 80% of deaths in Fiji attributable to NCDs, throughout the 20 weeks the women will be involved in practical cricket sessions to help combat the factor of physical inactivity, as well as advocacy sessions on the other three factors that contribute to NCDs – nutrition, tobacco and alcohol use.
After the launch of the inaugural project in Dravo in 2013, Cricket Fiji saw extremely positive results, including 45.5% of participants losing weight by an average of 3.2 kilograms, 43.2% participants decreasing their waist circumference by an average of 11.8 centimetres, and 34.1% of participants lowering their Body Mass Index (BMI) by an average of 1.4 BMI points.
The Cricket Fiji team, along with staff from the Ministry of Health, will be at the Wailevu Village Bazaar from 10am tomorrow morning to sign up women interested in participating in the program, as well as introduce anyone who’s willing to the game of cricket.