For the sweet tooth
A clever new campaign launched recently will engage children in the fight against juvenile diabetes. Its been named ‘Seeni Meanie’ – where “Seeni” (sugar in Sinhala and Tamil) where as “Meanie” means that it is bad for your health. Young people between the ages of 10 – 20 will be encouraged to design their own Diabetes awareness advertising campaigns. Doing their own research will hopefully give not only them a deeper understanding of the subject but make the issue a priority with family and friends as well.
“Seeni Meanie is a ground-breaking inter-school competition that challenges students to promote diabetes awareness amongst their peers, family and the community by conceptualising and carrying out a mock advertising campaign within their school environment,” said Mr. Trevor Reckerman, Rotary District Chairman for Diabetes Prevention.
It is estimated that 2.1 million Sri Lankans have diabetes. Dubbing it a “global pandemic” Dr Mahen Wijesuriya, Honorary Director of the National Diabetes Centre says a worrying trend has been the increasingly earlier onset of the illness. “Our research conducted at the Centre in Rajagiriya, shows that approximately 8.2% of urban youth under 20 years have abnormal glucose tolerance, which will lead to diabetes if left uncorrected,” he said, stating this was their primary reason for targeting children for the project.
Speaking to the Mirror Magazine, Dr.Wijesuriya said that modern lifestyles – with the associated high intake of refined food, oils and fast food coupled with a lack of exercise and ever increasing stress was taking its toll on the lives of the younger generation. It’s worrying because currently there is no cure for diabetes. “It affects all organs in the body. If left undiagnosed or uncontrolled complications can arise like blindness, heart attacks and strokes, kidney failure and amputations,” Dr. Wijesuriya cautioned.
Primary prevention is required. Young people should be motivated to embrace healthy lifestyles, and keep tabs on risk factors such as increased BMI, increased waist size as well as family history. This website for kids – www.schoolnet.lk/health – is a good place to turn to for help.
The Diabetes Association of Sri Lanka is using the huge network of the Rotary clubs to take this programme island wide with the Rotary clubs made responsible for ensuring all deadlines are met. Approximately 120 schools have been chosen – 2 for each of the 60 participating Rotary clubs. The competition is open to all kids, so if you’ve missed out you can apply for next year by writing to the NDC at 50, Sarana Mawatha Rajagiriya.
This year’s competition will come to a close in 2013. The agency Saatchi & Saatchi Sri Lanka, helped design the competition and will play a role in judging it come February. Winners will be chosen on a regional basis, and will then be entered into a national round leading up to an awards night in March 2013 where the national winner will walk away with the prize.
“Empowering students to create their own campaigns gives them a sense of ownership which is crucial in sustaining their interest in the issue, particularly as ‘Seeni Meanie’ is a long-term project,” said Dharshan John, District Governor of Rotary District 3220, anticipating that this project will be one of the most exciting youth empowerment projects Rotary has been involved in to date.
The project, a nationwide Diabetes Awareness and Prevention campaign, is an initiative of the Diabetes Association of Sri Lanka and is being conducted in partnership with Rotary District 3220. The project is also endorsed by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health.
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