Gibnews

St Bernard’s First School ‘Moroccan Day’

Year Two at St Bernard's First School participated in a fully interactive, fun-filled 'Moroccan Day' this week. Children came to school dressed in traditional costume to celebrate this wonderful culture that plays an important role in Gibraltar's heritage.  Read more

Eleven acts for the 2018 MTV Gibraltar Calling

The first eleven acts for MTV Gibraltar Calling were announced by Minister for Culture Steven Linares and the event’s producer Richard Coram at a press conference Thursday morning and the buzz an Read more

New Initiative to Tackle Child Obesity

A new health awareness programme designed for children, known as ‘CHAMP’, (Children, Healthy and Active! Multiagency Programme), will be launched at the Piazza on Saturday April 7th, at 10am, by the Gibraltar Health Authority. CHAMP is a local initiative that intends to tackle child obesity, which has doubled in Gibraltar in recent years.

CHAMP started as a small steering group of professionals working together for the common cause of helping children and their families live healthy and active lives. The group of ‘CHAMPions’ has been growing, with members from various Government Departments, including the Gibraltar Health Authority, Public Health, Education, the Care Agency, Sports and Culture, all contributing. CHAMP seeks to create an informative, pragmatic and supportive environment in which children and families are empowered and encouraged to make appropriate choices toward healthy living.

According to the World Health Organisation, poor weight management in childhood is one of the most serious public health challenges of the 21 century. Based on current trends, half of all children in the UK will be obese or overweight by 2020 and half of all men and women could be obese by 2030.

Dr Vijay Kuman, Director of Public Health, explained that this was a long standing problem in Gibraltar, noting that the GHA’s dietetics department had carried out a survey of Gibraltar’s schoolchildren in the late 1990s and found that over a third of them were overweight or obese, an incidence that was higher than that of UK and other comparable nations at the time.

Dr Kumar said: “Children are very dependent on their parents, families, teachers, the media and the wider society to guide them through the pitfalls of modern life. However, the quality of what they receive may not be optimal, as the older generations themselves struggle to adapt to a fast-changing world. There is no doubt that poor child health is a nation-wide problem, not just that of individuals.”

Dr Annie Dai, GHA Consultant Paediatrician, said that unhealthy lifestyles leading to poor weight management have a significant impact on modern families and societies in today’s world, adding: “This does not only affect personal health, but influences a nation’s economic growth and social cohesion, that leads to happy, progressive communities.”  Read more

Gibraltarians with Cerebral Palsy launch awareness campaign

Members of the community living with Cerebral Palsy will come together for the first time this weekend in order to spread awareness of the disability.  Read more

Port attends Africa bunkering conference

Representatives from the Gibraltar Port Authority (GPA) have been attending the International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA) Africa Bunkering Conference, hosted by Ports of Tenerife, this week.  Read more

Lords EU Committee visits Gibraltar to examine impact of Brexit

On Thursday 15 and Friday 16 March, the EU Select Committee visits Gibraltar by way of follow-up to its March 2017 report on Brexit: Gibraltar.  Read more

Cordoba agreement has already cost Gibraltar over £150 million

In yesterday’s article by Joe Garcia on the proposed airport deal, he said he had asked the following question to the Gibraltar Government: Read more

Government will mobilise all its options to counter any EU exclusion

The Government has said it is not surprised by the reference to Clause 24 in a footnote to the draft legal text on the Withdrawal Agreement published by the EU27 yesterday. However, it nonetheless constitutes a disgraceful affront to a small British country that voted by 96% to remain in the European Union.  Read more