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16 Feb 2006 |
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Daily Edition: San Jos้, Costa Rica, February 16, 2006
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Child Obesity Concerns Authorities
Although Jorkaef Carballo, a slim, healthy-looking first-grader at Buenaventura Corrales public school in downtown San José, insists that his meals consist mainly of cereals, fruits and vegetables, a government study has revealed some of his peers may not be on the same diet.
(Click for more)
Officials Investigate Boat
That Sank Near Tortuguero
Public Security Ministry officials yesterday began investigating the case of a small boat carrying 20 passengers that appears to have sunk Tuesday in Barra de Tortuguero, on the northern Caribbean coast, said Public Security Ministry spokeswoman Patricia Meléndez.
(Click for more)
Costa Rican Businesses to
Participate In Commercial
Fair in Puerto Rico
Five Costa Rican companies will exhibit a total of 22 pharmaceutical and plastic products at Feria Interphex, in San Juan, Puerto Rico Feb. today and tomorrow.
(Click for more)
Correction:
The Tico Times Online yesterday incorrectly cited Luis París as one of the National Libertarian Party election observers. The Liberation observer who spoke to The Tico Times was Fernando Berrocal. The Tico Times regrets the error.
February 16
Orange Fair
Including sports, cultural events, citrus sales. Feb. 16-26, Ciudad Colón, southwest of San José. Info: 249-1650.
Latin American Film and Video Festival
Today features the Argentine film Lisandro Alonso, 6:30 p.m., Centro de Cine, behind INS, San José. 223-2127.
El Rastro de la Mariposa
Dance show by Marcela Aguilar, Feb. 16-19, 8 p.m., Teatro de la Danza, CENAC, Av. 3/5, Ca. 11/15, San José, 221-2154.
Edited By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff
aroberson@ticotimes.net
Child Obesity Concerns Authorities
By María Gabriela Díaz
Tico Times Staff
mgdiaz@ticotimes.net
Although Jorkaef Carballo, a slim, healthy-looking first-grader at Buenaventura Corrales public school in downtown San José, insists that his meals consist mainly of cereals, fruits and vegetables, a government study has revealed some of his peers may not be on the same diet.
Minister of Public Education Manuel Bolaños and Alberto Sáenz, Social Security System (Caja) President, yesterday released the results of a study showing that an alarming 20.6% of Costa Rican children are overweight.
Of this percentage, 7.9% are obese and 12.7% are overweight, according to the study carried out jointly by the Caja and the Education Ministry in 2002, which evaluated more than 25,500 kids between the ages of 7 and 15 throughout the country.
In past years, (health) problems had to do with malnutrition and parasites, but today, we see the results of a study that places us in a position similar to developed nations, Sáenz said at a press conference yesterday at Buenaventura Corrales, also known as the Metallic Building due to its unique exterior.
According to Sáenz, who, along with President Abel Pacheco, attended Buenaventura Corrales as a child, the results of this study, which also showed that 73.2% of Costa Rican children fall into a weight range considered appropriate and 6.2% are too thin, are a warning sign.
This aspect (children's excessive body weight) is an alarm bell about the risks that occur with excess body mass, he said to an audience of reporters and students piled into the school's assembly hall for their first press conference.
According to the Caja official, parents should take on a more watchful attitude to correct this problem -- not with diet pills, but with exercise and healthier lifestyles, including diets rich in fruits and vegetables.
Officials Investigate Boat
That Sank Near Tortuguero
By Amanda Roberson
Tico Times Staff
aroberson@ticotimes.net
Public Security Ministry officials yesterday began investigating the case of a small boat carrying 20 passengers that appears to have sunk Tuesday in Barra de Tortuguero, on the northern Caribbean coast, said Public Security Ministry spokeswoman Patricia Meléndez.
The boat sank under a strong tide and that the 20 people aboard of whom 10 are from China, four from Colombia, two from Ecuador and four from the Dominican Republic all survived, the daily La Nación reported.
Public Security Ministry officials, however, have not confirmed this information, Meléndez said, and have sent a team to the Caribbean port city of Limón, where the passengers were taken, to identify their names, nationalities and immigration status and investigate the incident.
Coast Guard Director Carlos Alvarado told La Nación that the passengers said they departed from San Andrés, an island off the eastern coast of Nicaragua that belongs to Colombia, and that the small boat with two motors ran out of gas and was washed ashore by strong waves.
This information has not been confirmed, however, Alvarado said.
Costa Rican Businesses to Participate
In Commercial Fair in Puerto Rico
Five Costa Rican companies will exhibit a total of 22 pharmaceutical and plastic products at Feria Interphex, in San Juan, Puerto Rico Feb. today and tomorrow.
Laboratorios Zepol, Yanber, Fotolit, PPC Industrias and Envases Comerciales S.A. will participate in the event, according to a statement released yesterday by the Costa Rican Foreign Trade Promotion Office (PROCOMER).
Laboratorios Zepol manufactures pharmaceutical products such as ointments and creams, and the other companies produce plastic tubes and laminates and items for medical use, such as containers and plastic bags.
PROCOMER Director Martín Zúñiga said that the fair will give Costa Rican companies an opportunity to make commercial contacts for selling their products in various countries in Central America.
Another objective of the fair is to analyze the pharmaceutical market to help Costa Rica reach its potential in this field by increasing exportation, Zúñiga added.
More than 4,000 businesses from the United States, Canada, Italy, Great Britain, Mexico, Uruguay, Spain and Israel are planning to attend, according to the statement.
During 2005, 62.5% of Costa Rica 's exports to Puerto Rico was equipment for blood transfusions and other medical devices.
Costa Rica also exported plastic containers, meat, electric conductor cables and agricultural products to Puerto Rico.
- ACAN-EFE
