Volunteering in Fiji 2019
Donation protected
In January I’ll be heading to Fiji for two weeks to volunteer! I’ll have the opportunity to work with the Fijian people, practicing nutrition screening assessments and nutrition education.
Non-communicable diseases such as type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), cardiovascular disease (CVD) and coronary heart disease (CHD) are ballooning as a result of a Westernised food environment and low physical activity levels. According to the World Health Organisation, T2DM accounts for 16% of deaths, CVD accounts for 35% of deaths and 12% of deaths are related to pregnancy and nutritional conditions in Fiji. The Fijian people are more likely to spend their income on cheaper, processed foods rather than traditional locally grown Indigenous sources and this has long term impacts on health outcomes and longevity.
My role in Fiji is to promote and educate children, adults and elders about the importance of nutrition for their long term health. Nutrition education has the potential to increase participants knowledge of healthy eating and chronic disease, improve confidence and food literacy skills and aid in the management of diet-related diseases such as T2DM.
Financially, the Fijian community is not equipped with adequate resources and health professionals to conduct health checks in the communities. For this reason, I feel extremely motivated to raise a minimum of $500 that can go towards tools, equipment and medications required by the health clinics but lacking due to the high costs.
As an incentive, I will be going without all ‘ultra-processed foods’ for the month of October. ‘Ultra-processed foods’ are typically manufactured as energy-dense, nutrient poor foods with high amounts of bad fat, sugar and sodium. Such foods are ready to consume, have a long shelf life and generally taste pretty great too!
Examples of 'ultra-processed foods' include:
Burger patties, sausages, processed meats
Chips, crisps, biscuits
Confectionery – lollies and chocolate
Cakes
Pizzas, boxed chicken and fish
Energy bars
Sugary drinks
Your support means the world to me. Every little bit counts in making a difference, even a small one.
Steph x
Non-communicable diseases such as type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), cardiovascular disease (CVD) and coronary heart disease (CHD) are ballooning as a result of a Westernised food environment and low physical activity levels. According to the World Health Organisation, T2DM accounts for 16% of deaths, CVD accounts for 35% of deaths and 12% of deaths are related to pregnancy and nutritional conditions in Fiji. The Fijian people are more likely to spend their income on cheaper, processed foods rather than traditional locally grown Indigenous sources and this has long term impacts on health outcomes and longevity.
My role in Fiji is to promote and educate children, adults and elders about the importance of nutrition for their long term health. Nutrition education has the potential to increase participants knowledge of healthy eating and chronic disease, improve confidence and food literacy skills and aid in the management of diet-related diseases such as T2DM.
Financially, the Fijian community is not equipped with adequate resources and health professionals to conduct health checks in the communities. For this reason, I feel extremely motivated to raise a minimum of $500 that can go towards tools, equipment and medications required by the health clinics but lacking due to the high costs.
As an incentive, I will be going without all ‘ultra-processed foods’ for the month of October. ‘Ultra-processed foods’ are typically manufactured as energy-dense, nutrient poor foods with high amounts of bad fat, sugar and sodium. Such foods are ready to consume, have a long shelf life and generally taste pretty great too!
Examples of 'ultra-processed foods' include:
Burger patties, sausages, processed meats
Chips, crisps, biscuits
Confectionery – lollies and chocolate
Cakes
Pizzas, boxed chicken and fish
Energy bars
Sugary drinks
Your support means the world to me. Every little bit counts in making a difference, even a small one.
Steph x
Organizer
Stephanie Bell
Organizer
Baskerville WA
