Our south coast will join an international circle of awareness about healthy living and diabetes with a special pancake breakfast at Carrackalinga House, Victor Harbor on World Diabetes Day – Friday, November 14.
Participants will leave the breakfast and walk to Warland Reserve to form a circle for a photograph to be uploaded to the International Diabetes Federation website along with 170 other countries engaged in the outstanding campaign.
And you’re welcome to be part of the circle – simply join our local fundraising group Be Fit to Live – a group fitness class for mature adults with diabetes and chronic conditions – organised by William Collins Jr, for breakfast from 8-11am. Cost is $5 and includes healthy pancakes, fruit and beverages with all funds going towards tackling this global diabetes pandemic.
William, 57, formerly from San Francisco, and a retired airborne parachutist with the US Army, said the enormity of the problem was highlighted by the local figures with 3800 registered people with either Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes in Victor Harbor, and another 800 in Goolwa.
“My mother and grandmother had type 2 diabetes and when I was one of six of seven children in the family with it also I kept on asking, why me?” William said.
“But while diabetes may be hereditary, it can also affect anyone. It can be life threatening, but also very manageable starting by seeing your doctor and having a simple test.
“You can reduce your chances of having diabetes by thinking about your diet, particularly portion control. Look at what you buy in the store; read the labels and understand how the ingredients may affect you. Sometimes when you are under a lot of pressure you can trigger diabetes.
“Type 1 and especially type 2 diabetes can impact on your every-day life, but there is a great support network out there. Eating healthy foods and exercising may assist those with chronic conditions.”
The International Diabetes Federation celebrates World Diabetes Day on November 14, but it is actually a year-long program. The event logo features a blue circle, which signifies the unity of the global diabetes community, hence the request to form a large circle on Warland Reserve – and the promotional splashes of blue. There is a different theme for the annual awareness campaign, and the new message is “Healthy living and diabetes”.
The day is celebrated on November 14 because it is the birthday of Sir Frederick Banting (1891-1941), a Nobel Prize winner who, with his colleague Charles Best, co-discovered insulin and was the first to administer it in humans. But then, any day is a great day to enjoy healthy pancakes. Contact William: 0425 605 969