A group of students representing Guyana won the 2011 Caribbean Schools Food and Nutrition Quiz Competition, an initiative organized by the Caribbean Food and Nutrition Institute (CFNI). The contest seeks to improve the image of food and nutrition in the Caribbean region, promote good nutrition and healthy lifestyles in schools and communities, and help students in their preparation for local and regional examinations in nutrition and related subjects.

The team from Queens College Secondary School in Guyana won first place, and HJ Robinson High School of Turks and Caicos placed second. Both teams will receive expenses-paid trips as prizes, among other recognition. The Guyana team will travel to Jamaica, while the Turks and Caicos students will travel to Guyana.

Competing students had to answer questions about nutrition throughout the life course, regional food and nutrition security, effects of nutritional deficiencies and excesses, science and nutrition, indicators of nutritional status, and essential and non-essential amino acids. In all, 11 national teams participated, from Anguilla, Antigua, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts & Nevis, Saint Vincent the Grenadines, Trinidad y Tobago, y Turks and Caicos. More than 180 students and teachers from secondary schools throughout Guyana witnessed the contest as spectators.

Mr. Olato Sam, Chief Education Officer of Guyana, welcomed the visiting participants to Guyana and conveyed greetings on behalf of the Ministry of Education. Dr. Henry Fitzroy, Director of CFNI, gave opening remarks. PAHO’s country office in Guyana helped organize the event.

CFNI is a Specialized Center of the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), established in 1967 to forge a regional approach to solving the nutrition problems of the Caribbean.

Link:

• For more information on CFNI: www.paho.org/cfni/