Siletz
Community
Clinic
Health
CHA-MAY WEEYA - MEDICINE TALK
Diabetes Day Camp Teaches Lifelong Lessons
by Tiffany Stuart
A life-threatening disease facing In
dian Country is diabetes. Siletz Tribal
children age 8-13 had the opportunity to
learn more about diabetes at the SOAR
Above Diabetes Day Camp held July 19-21,
2005, at Siletz Valley School.
Campers had the
opportunity to par
ticipate in Native
dance,
obstacle
courses, fun games
(soccer games), and
interactive games
about nutrition. They
learned how to pre
pare food for the
camp, studied the
connection between
physical activity and
diabetes, and took
part in parental-child
interactions.
Not only did the children learn more
about diabetes, they learned about differ
ent kinds of foods and their contents.
“What does pop have a lot of?” Alissa
Lane asked the children, and the kids
yelled, “Sugar!”
To learn what healthy foods to eat,
the children had snacks such as peanut
butter and celery, raisins, and apples. They
also learned about healthy foods through
the games and their lunches.
They played card games that had
multiple choice and true-or-false ques
tions on diabetes. Questions from “Does
hot pepper raise your blood pressure” to
“Should you be more concerned with fat
or sugar content” were included in the game.
This camp is part of the master’s de
gree project of student researcher Gina
Legaz, who is obtaining her master’s de
gree in public health and health educa
tion. Camp planning and development
and the three-day camp itself are consid
ered Gina’s internship for her master’s
degree. She is supported by the Oregon
Pacific Area Health Education Center.
Teachers and helpers at the camp
were Alissa, Gina, Letitia Williams, Darcy
de la Rosa, Lynette Hibdon, Brenda
Robertson, Nick
Sixkiller,
Frank
Aspria, Kris White-
head, and Tony
Whitehead.
This camp was
funded by the Diabe
tes Grant through the
Siletz Community
Health Clinic.
Parents also par-
ticipated in this
event. At 4:30 p.m.
each day, there was
focus on “exercising
with my child,” “making dinner with my
child,” and on the last evening, “yourchild
will make you a healthy dinner.”
Parents took a survey before and af
ter the camp to help Gina’s research,
which is intended to help others prevent
diabetes in the future.
The SOAR Above Diabetes Day
Camp's goal was to teach children healthy
behaviors. Before and during camp, a
survey was taken. Children’s blood sugar
also was checked during camp (before
breakfast, after breakfast, and after physi
cal activity) by staff specifically trained
to take blood glucose.
Children wore pedometers and mea
surements of height, weight, blood pres
sure, and heart rate were taken at the be
ginning and the end of camp.
Campers received a camp T-shirt,
breakfast, snacks, lunch, and prizes.
Above all, Siletz Tribal children gained
knowledge about how to live a healthy
path in their daily lives.
Tooth Talk
Playing Sharks and Minos, campers learned that physical activity is good for their
health and prevention for diabetes.
Gina Legaz helps Kat Whitehead and Coyote Foster to a healthy snack.
Asthma is a Chronic Disease, But It
Can Be Controlled
Things you can do to help prevent
the onset of asthma or asthma attacks:
•
•
•
•
Make a rule of no smoking in home or car
Make sure wood stoves are tight
Reduce dust and mold in homes
Take asthma-control medication as
prescribed, even when symptoms are
not evident
•
Don't smoke while pregnant - stud
ies show direct link of mothers’
smoking to asthmatic children
Encourage children to exercise - helps
increase oxygen into lungs and body
Reduce perfumed cleaners and laun
dry soaps
Know the symptoms of an asthma attack:
by Mary Ellen Volansky, RDH.MS
Reduce Cavity Germs with Xylitol, the Natural Way
Xylitol is a sweetener - a no-calorie
sweetener that is found in birch trees,
corn, strawberries, plums, and the human
body. Xylitol is safe for everyone and
has been FDA approved as a dietary
food supplement.
The germs that cause cavities like to
eat Xylitol. Those same bacteria cannot
digest Xylitol, so there are no acids to
cause tooth decay.
It's recommended that a Xylitol prod
uct be used three or four times per day;
five minutes is enough as in chewing gum
or having candy. Some chewing gums,
toothpastes, mouth rinses, and candies use
14
•
Siletz News
•
Xylitol as a sweetener. Squiggle Tooth
paste has Xylitol and fluoride - two medi
cines working to keep cavity germs away.
To find out if a product contains
enough Xylitol to reduce decay, read the
label. Xylitol must be the first item listed
in the ingredients.
The down side to Xylitol is that it’s
usually more expensive than regularly
sweetened products.
This information was obtained from
a pamphlet provided by Delores E. Starr,
early childhood caries coordinator, , at
the Aberdeen Area Support Center.
August 2005
•
•
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Coughing
Wheezing
Shortness of breath
•
•
Rapid breathing (much like panting)
Chest tightness
The Siletz Community Health Clinic
can be reached at 1-800-648-0449 or
541-444-1030.
Why Wait?
Set your quit date today!
For help with quitting, contact your
If you suspect you or your child has
asthma, contact your provider today and
ask about how to control it. You control
asthma; don’t let asthma control you.
provider or DeAnna Pearl, TPEP coor
dinator, at 541 -444-9659 or 1 -800-648-0449,
ext. 1659; or the Oregon Quit Line (toll-
free) at 1-877-270-7867.