Training Session: Choosing the Right Path
to Prevent Diabetes

Penny Williams - CHR and certified Senior Fitness Instructor
from Walpole Island, Ontario.

Walpole Island is famous for duck hunting and fishing, and there
is a need for people there to remain physically active to help
reduce the incidence of diabetes. Activity will also help
people stay healthy if a diabetes diagnosis has already occurred.
Traditionally, physical activity was part of everyday life with
hunting, farming, preparing foods, gathering foods, harvesting
gardens vegetables, hauling water, walking, playing games,
dancing, and riding horses. Life today is much more sedentary
and inactivity can adversely affect health.

Physical activity helps with spirituality and our forefathers lived
very active lives in order to survive but as it stands today, we live very
sedentary lives. Diabetes prevention can work at the community level.

Walpole Island initiatives include a “100-Mile” walking club to help
prevent diabetes. This club has been going for seven years now. Its
goal is to reach certain milestones: 100 miles, 200 miles, 500 miles
and 1,000 miles. The Elders on Walpole Island were the first group
to reach 1,000 miles with 11 of 14 Elders reaching that
target. To put this into perspective, as a community, the total
number of miles achieved would add up to walking to Tokyo – twice.
The Chief supports all physical activity programs and actively
participates in them. Community members take their cues from
leaders so it is important to have the leadership involved. To build
and maintain motivation, there must be incentives for participants
for each walking milestone reached. At each milestone,
participants in the walking club receive prizes including t-shirts,
sweatshirts and other rewards.

Walking is stress-free, great exercise, an excellent social activity
and a way to get back in touch with your natural surroundings.
People who want to start walking should start slowly so they do
not raise their blood sugar even higher. Blood sugar must be
monitored regularly. Blood sugar levels must be under 16 before
people can join the group. Reducing stress and eating well are
excellent ways to reduce blood sugar levels.

Other Walpole Island diabetes prevention activities include
an event called “Run for your Life – Stamp out Diabetes."
This run is very popular with youths and adults in the community. There
is also has a bike club designed to raise community activity levels for
those who do not like to run or walk. CHRs are encouraged to start
similar activity programs in their own communities. For more
information, the NADA Resource Directory lists communities and
contacts across Canada who have set up successful diabetes
activity programs in their communities.