The weather has grown chillier and yellow leaves have strewn our lawns, schools and roads. With cold winds gusting and shaking up the cars on the highways, you need to make sure that you keep yourself warm and healthy. Make sure that you kids have enough layers of clothes when you send them to school in the mornings. Take extra measures to wrap yourselves and your family in layers as you head out in the evenings tis’ the season of hollyjolly and you will go out on Santa parades and train rides.
As you do so, also bear in mind to watch your diabetes – if you have it – blood pressure and cholesterol. November is Diabetes awareness month.
Given that, South Asian Chapter of Canadian Diabetes Association had organized an awareness seminar at Centre for Information and Services (CICS) to give South Asian community of the GTA the information on medication, diet and healthier life style to treat , prevent and delay diabetes in our families.
Given South Asian eating habits that we have inherited from our parents who had immigrated from South Asian, or being new comers, we need to ensure that food preparation methods and food preservation in Canada is quite different from what we had in South Asia. There are many more opportunities to eat out at all different hours in Canada because women are working and not necessarily at home to cook meals all the time.( Not that cooking is women’s job exclusively)
In these circumstances, experts’ advise that supper should be made “a family thing” where healthy life style can be adopted as a family. Going to gym a few times a week, eating smaller portions of food, not eating too late at night are just the few tips to keep in mind.
If you have any nutrition related questions, do not hesitate to contact Ontario government. Government’s initiatives are for you to take benefit from. You pay taxes from your hard earned money to get access to these services, so make use of them. Call EatRight Ontario if you are not sure of any nutrition related matter.
Your government is there to help you. And that is the reason you read news stories related to government’s initiatives in Generation Next and other media. Call the numbers given in the articles as well as on the advertisements. The support you need is there. Please make use of it, ask for what you need. And do not be afraid. Your information and your conversations are kept private. Anything you say or any help you may ask for are mostly confidential.
And while you are taking care of yourself and your loved ones, also watch your elected representatives and what they are doing for you. There is a federal by-election on Monday Nov 29th. Go out and vote. Encourage your family to vote. And youth have an absolute obligation to have a say in political process. The legislations passed in the legislatures today are going to affect Generation Next the most. If you believe you are paying higher taxes, you are partially to be blamed because when the government raised a tax, you didn’t say anything, thinking ‘we will have to pay taxes anyway’ because that is not completely accurate. The Ontario government repealed the eco tax this summer because of Ontarians outcry over the eco tax. True, implementation has not been across the board in all retail stores but it will be if you have your say.