“I Love My Body” Opening session

Saba Healthcare Foundation (SHCF) inaugurated its community health “I Love My Body” programme at A.M. Edwards Medical Center Tuesday afternoon. The opening featured a presentation by Dr. Gina Boorsma, which attracted some 45 persons. All participants received free T-shirts with the programme’s logo, a variation on the logo of Aruba’s family- planning programme “Famia Planea Aruba.” The healthy lifestyle initiative promotes realistic dietary and physical activity changes in one’s daily routine, such as eating less, getting more active and avoiding fat diets. Overweight people are at an increased risk for diabetes, cardio-vascular diseases and cancer and are encouraged to join the series of events scheduled for the next 12 weeks.
Tuesday, January 28, there will be a “get-active” session, followed on February 4 by another, themed “On your marks, get set, go… breakfast.” Subsequent sessions will be on cravings, snacks and diet traps; think before you drink; weightloss pitfalls; take away and dining out; veggies and fruits; stay motivated; how to beat comfort eating; stay fit; and keep the weight off.
On February 25, cardiologist Dr. Van Leeuwen will be guest lecturer on the drastic impact of healthy lifestyle changes in preventing heart disease.
To help participants get started, Dr. Boorsma encouraged them to take part in a few assessment tests, such as Body Mass Index (BMI) measurement, blood pressure and cholesterol. All these measurements were done on-site by volunteering nurses. The results were used to counsel participants on setting personal goals. “It is really nice to see such a big turnout. I hope that people stay motivated and get a snowball effect started, with people motivating each other to be more aware of their weight and exercise. It is a good sign that so many people showed interest,” Boorsma said. Island Governor Jonathan Johnson’s wife Rosa was highly involved in calling people to attend the opening event and motivating them to join. Both the governor and his wife took time away from their little baby to join the event, where Rosa distributed T-shirts. The Island Government was a big supporter of the event, said Boorsma. She extended her gratitude to Hanneke and Malachy Magee’s support for their work in promoting the programme. She also thanked all SHCF nurses and physiotherapists Kim te Riele and Laurens Dhaese, who joined this effort.