CALLING ALL YOUNG PEOPLE WITH POSITIVE IDEAS aimed to promote health and wellness in their community: UNILAB Ideas Positive is inviting you to join their idea-generating contest on social marketing programs that will address, yes,  health and wellness issues.

Unilab Ideas Positive started last year because of the increase in problems affecting communities regarding hygiene and sanitation, nutrition, disease prevention and intervention, as well as environmental care and protection.

Through the Filipino trait of Bayanihan spirit,  that of working together to achieve a common goal, Unilab knows that these problems can be given solution when two or more teams or organizations work together.

Unilab aims to not just provide these youth groups with the venue for them to make themselves heard but to help them turn thier ideas into reality. The youth groups then are able to be more creative in shaping their ideals and sense of social purpose in looking for solutions with the problems they see regarding health and wellness in their communities.

Unilab Ideas Positive Award:

A seed fund worth PhP100,000 will be awarded to the winning team. This award money will be used for the implementation of the social marketing program for the communities they have chosen. The two runner-up groups will be given PhP75,000 for their programs.

Unilab Ideas Positive 2010 winner:

University of Asia and the Pacific’s (UA&P) Team Biggkas was last year’s winner. Their “farm in the city” concept, a hydroponics gardening program aimed to teach housewives in Barangay San Joaquin in Pasig City to have their own sustainable source of vegetables, was chosen. Last April, the moms were able to harvest lettuce and kangkong.

The local government of Pasig City has expressed a desire to replicate the same program in other barangays.

Unilab Ideas Positive includes these provinces for 2011: Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Bulacan and Rizal.

How to join: continue reading this entry »

July is Nutrition Month as mandated by the Department of Education.

The youngest daughter said she needs to make a food mobile consisting of food rich in Vitamin A. Before she told me what she needs to do, I already know she will be doing this Food Mobile like last year. I was actually thinking of making a fruit basket, like that fresh organic fruit basket my friend orders from the North. A real basket with “fruits” made of stuffed and shaped papers.That would be more fun than just drawing fruits on hard paper, coloring these and tying strings to hang on a hanger.

Nutrition Month is important for a country with dwindling resources and ballooning population of 94 million people (and counting…).

People sometimes have this thought that more expensive food will give them more nutrition. Nope. The “lowly” malunggay for one, easy to grow and have a high yield is one of the local food that can give a lot of nutrients that growing children, pregnant and breastfeeding moms and everyone else need to be healthy.

Let us all be careful with what we “put in our mouth” and not just be conscious with those that are delicious but instead eat food because these are healthy.

Zumba classes had Culminating Activity last May 21st. I can’t find the video where we were dancing, I must have erased it accidentally.

Anyway, one time, my eldest daughter looked at me and said: “It seems like Zumba didn’t help you lose weight. You stopped hulahooping and dancing here at home when you enrolled. You even stopped running and walking (this is debatable because whenever we ask them to go to where we do this, they protest and seem to drag their feet)”

I was definitely tempted to Google the top diet pills for women right there and then when she talked to me about not doing my usual “fitness” routine at home. But of course, mulling about what she said made me stop and think that yes, she is right.

Zumba classes will resume next week. I will enroll again of course and now that the children will be in school the whole day, I can go back to my “Dance like no one is watching” thing.

The Department of Health (DOH) recently launched Health Fiesta Caravan, Lakbay Buhay Kalusugan, a health promotion campaign which aims to bring information on healthy practices to Filipino families in the rural barangays.

Lakbay Buhay Kalusugan (LBK) was launched in Capas, Tarlac and was attended by 1,500 Aetas from Barangay St. Juliana. Maternal heath services like pre-natal check-up and counseling were included in the health fiesta. Educational activities were also done with the children.

Asuncion Anden, DOH Director on Health Promotion said that Lakbay Buhay Kalusugan aims to have engaging, memorable and fun experiences during the different LBK health fiestas scheduled.

Lakbay Buhay Kalusugan is the DOH’s health reform agenda on Universal Access to Health program.

“Making health and medical services readily accessible to the public has always been one of the priorities of the province. And with programs like LBK promoting health prevention and education in a fun and entertaining approach, we can look forward to a future when households will be competent enough to keep their families healthy and productive,” Tarlac Governor Yap said.

This is the bus for Lakbay Buhay Kalusugan’s mobile counseling and examination clinic for the women and children. During the event, participants can learn about health practices through interactive exhibits, entertainment shows and fun activities.

Please click on photos to see in bigger resolution.

The LBK health fiesta caravan will travel to 10 provinces in its first year.

• Tarlac, Pangasinan, and Nueva Ecija in Luzon;
• Bohol and Negros Occidental in the Visayas;
• Bukidnon, Zamboanga del Norte, Compostela Valley, South Cotabato, and Maguindanao in Mindanao.

LBK is supported by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), Victory Liner Inc., Melawares, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Air21, OMF Literature, Green Cross, Dakila – Philippine Collective for Modern Heroism, Center for Community Journalism and Development, Manila Broadcasting Company, UNTV, Philippine Press Institute, and the Alliance of Young Nurse Leaders and Advocates International, Inc.

I’ve been sick for almost a week already. What should have been “just an allergy” turned out nasty. I don’t t remember getting this sick except for two times: when I smelled paint several years ago and was confined to bed for almost a week and when I was pregnant with my son.

If I’m right, the culprit is that smell of paint on the roof that our Mr. Fix-it Guy is applying. I smelled it faintly before I took a nap last Wednesday and I woke up feeling so much worse than when I felt the allergy last Monday.

I got all symptoms one wouldn’t wish for when they think being sick is a good excuse to not go to work:

• aches and pains like muscle pain and headache
• cough
• clogged nose though there’s nothing to blow out but air since this is allergy
• dry lips and parched mouth
• bland taste so i won’t probably need lipozene just yet since I haven’t been eating normally
• itchy eyes
• can’t breathe
• no fever and no itchy throat
• ringing in my ears when I blow my nose too much (considering nothing is coming out) continue reading this entry »

What: UNILAB ActiveHealth Contest to win Free Registration to Unilab Run United 1

Mechanics:

• Share/Upload your best “active health” photo at the Unilab ActiveHealth Facebook page
• Explain why this is your best active health moment
• Tag 5 friends who you think need to jumpstart their journey in active health
• Invite your friends and loved ones to like your entry
• Write in the comment section of your photo the BLOG -> http://teacherjulie.com where you saw this contest

Submission of entries will be from February 3 till February 10 only

Criteria for judging:

• Adherence to the theme of “Active Health”: 50%
• Fan favorite: 30%
• Unilab ActiveHealth Team favorite: 20%

Winner with the best Active Health entry will win one complimentary registration on any of the four categories (500m, 5k, 10k and 21k) for the Unilab Active Health Run United 1 on March 6 2011.

Announcement of winner will be on February 14, 2011.

Important reminder: ONE ENTRY PER PERSON