Minister of Finance Ryan Straughn has announced plans to unlock more than $320 million in debt savings to fund health programmes and tackle childhood obesity in Barbados.

He made the disclosure on Wednesday during the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s Mass Media Campaign Launch to restrict unhealthy food and drinks in schools at the Bridgetown Seventh-day Adventist School.

Describing childhood obesity as one of the country’s greatest threats, Straughn said the government was committed to reversing an alarming trend that has seen childhood obesity rise from 33 per cent to 42 per cent.