Eating healthy and being active are all part of what it takes to prevent diabetes says Betty-Ann Horbul, Manager Population Health/Nutrition Services, Porcupine Health Unit.
November will be Diabetes Awareness Month in Timmins, the board heard at its most recent meeting.
Horbul presented two devices at the Porcupine Health Unit (PHU) board meeting on Friday evening that will be helpful in eating right and getting enough exercise - a spork and a water bottle.
The spork is a utensil that is a fork on one end, and a spoon on the other end, with a serrated cutting edge on one of the outer prongs.
“The spork was an idea for getting children to think about the importance of healthy eating,” said Horbul. “We applied to the school boards and they approved our distribution of sporks to school children.”
PHU’s mandate includes encouraging healthy eating. Sporks were given out to elementary school students but anyone can get one by calling the PHU number in their community.
Part of the diabetes prevention program stresses the maintaining of a health weight and eating healthy foods. Those are the two behaviours PHU wants to encourage.
“Also healthy eating and exercise is a main ingredient in combating obesity and diabetes,” noted Horbul
“It’s important to start building good eating and exercise habits at a young age,” she added
For the past 10 years in Timmins an annual seminar on diabetes has been part of the lead up to the November diabetes awareness campaign.
This year the seminar took place at the Ramada Timmins Suites on Algonquin Blvd. West.
“We have held the diabetes fair over the last 10 years as a community initiative with many agencies participating in getting the word out about how to prevent diabetes through healthy eating and regular exercise,” said Horbul.
Timmins Mayor Steve Black was the winner picked in a drawing for a Nordic walking stick held at the seminar.
In recognition of the importance of regular exercise, Horbul presented Mayor Black, who is a PHU board member, with a Nordic walking pole that enables the user to walk and also exercise the upper body for maximum benefit.
“Nordic pole walking was initially started for our diabetes prevention program to help people lose weight and stay healthy to ward off the onset of diabetes,” explained Horbul.
“We provide training on how to use the poles and also we provide rentals of the poles through our PHU offices,” Horbul said. “PHU has also used them in our behavioural change programs as well.”
Horbul explained that PHU was one of the first health units to use Nordic walking poles and the poles they acquired were fairly expensive, but the price has come down considerably, and they can be purchased at most sporting goods or even some larger pharmacies.
“The other thing we encourage people to do, is to know their risk of getting diabetes,” said Horbul. “People can assess their risk of becoming diabetic by going to the PHU website or the Canadian Diabetes Society website to access the CanRisk program that will help an individual determine their risk level.”
Some people are at higher risk and more susceptible of getting diabetes.
Horbul also noted that as part of a person’s annual check up your family doctor will request you go to a lab to have your blood sugar levels checked along with other analyses.
“Once you know you are at risk, it is important to make changes that will reduce those risks by regular exercising and eating healthy,” emphasized Horbul. “The Porcupine Health Unit through our Healthy Eating, Healthy Living program will be able to assist you to change your behaviour to help you meet your health goals.”
Horbul said that PHU even has grocery store tours to provide people with a direct lesson on how to shop for healthy foods just call PHU to book an appointment.
