7 News Belize

UB Warns of Diabetes Dangers To Youth
posted (November 14, 2013)
Today was celebrated as World Diabetes Day, and in noting its importance the University of Belize held a Diabetes Conference for the student body. It is an effort to sensitize them about the dangers of one of the top ten killers around the world.

Today, we stopped in, and spoke to the organizers about why young people should learn that the disease does not discriminate against age:

Isabelle Bennett, Coordinator, UB Diabetes Conference
"The University is the training institution for the health personnel's of this country and so the university is focusing even more on how to trained the students in order for them to be assertive in order for them to be trailblazers and this is just one of the opportunities that we create now for the second time where they have to be able to so presentation on a very professional level. They have to be able to share current information about diabetes and our main goal for the conference last year and this year is to provide information and research being done on diabetes as well as nutrition, medication and exercise."

Cornelio Marfield, Chair - Belmopan Diabetes Association
"We are sitting generation; we sit in the morning behind the TV, sit in front of the plate of food, we sit on the bus, we sit travelling to work, we sit at church, we sit at school, we sit behind the electronic devices and we are not getting much outdoor activity. I would definitely encourage our young people to get more involved in the community. Get more involve in things like gardening, sporting and get the body more active because this is one of the way we can alleviate and prevent the increase of diabetes in our country."

Isabelle Bennett, Coordinator, UB Diabetes Conference
"A child listening to me who is 5 years old, you need to be alarmed okay because the little sweet you buy over not buying a banana of choosing a pack of biscuit over an orange can make you sick very early and that simple means that your little tummy can start hurting very early. Your kidneys; the little beans organs in the back. Your eyes; you can actually start getting blind very young. So, if you are 5, 16 or 60 its still means that you still need to make health choices in terms of food. Even if you are 5, 65 or 95 years old you still need to be thinking about exercising."

This was UB's second Diabetes Conference.



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