The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
The monthly Healthy Flin Flon luncheon meeting was held on Monday at the Flin Flon Friendship Centre. There were about 12 people present. Christa McIntyre of the NOR-MAN Health Promotions introduced the guest speakers. First was Maxine Meadows, the community dietitian with NOR-MAN. She gave us 12 healthy reasons to indulge over the holidays. She said: "Christmas is the time to take time out from our busy schedules, sit down and enjoy meals with our families. People of all ages indulge in a greater variety of foods. And instead of feeling guilty, we should delight in our Christmas dinner!" She gave us some examples of how nutritious our Christmas dinner actually is without the fat content being number one on the list. She also stressed that healthy eating can reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, obesity, hypertension, osteoporosis (carrying excess weight is very hard on the joints and bones), anemia, dental decay and bowel disorders. Here is our Christmas dinner breakdown from the nutrient point of view: - Roast turkey is rich in protein and low in fat especially the white meat. - Cranberries are a natural way of getting vitamin C and fibre. - Potatoes are full of vitamin C and other nutrients. If you choose to roast them, use a vegetable oil as opposed to lard or animal fat. - Peas are very popular and contain a good source of iron, zinc, vitamin E, fibre, folic acid and most other B vitamins. - The Christmas pudding has lots of dried fruit which gives us potassium, iron and fibre. - Chestnuts are the only low fat nut. - Christmas oranges are easy to peel and one orange contains enough vitamin C for the average woman for the day. - Dinner rolls are a source of B vitamins as well as iron and zinc. If they are whole grain they also contain many nutrients. - Baked ham is an excellent source of vitamin A, iron, niacin and thiamin. - Raw veggies and dip contain fibre, vitamins A and C and many essential nutrients. - Cabbage rolls with rice and tomato sauce rolled and baked contain many vitamins and minerals. - Egg Nog is an excellent source of protein, vitamins and minerals. If homemade, use a pasteurized egg product to avoid salmonella or other contamination! Colleen Arnold spoke next on the National Day of Remembrance and Action on violence against women, which will be held in Flin Flon at noon on Friday, December 5 at City Hall. Colleen gave us some statistics regarding violence against women stating that: 51% of women have been a victim at least one act of physical or sexual abuse after the age of 16. Of these, 88% are stalked by men and 34,000 victims are from spousal violence that was reported in 2000. For children who live in abusive families, they have little or no self esteem, are fearful, feel shame and are confused, have emotional/ behavioural problems and may become aggressive, involved in alcohol/drug abuse or on the other hand become very passive, withdrawn and have low self-esteem, and often become "runaways". Then Brad McDougall of the NOR-MAN RHA spoke on the White Ribbon Campaign which was established after the Montreal massacre in 1991. He said that one of the most important things men can do to help end violence against women is to speak out against it. The White Ribbon Campaign (WRC) is the largest effort in the world organized by men to speak out against violence to women. See 'White' P.# Con't from P.# By wearing a white ribbon, it shows your personal pledge never to commit, condone or remain silent about violence against women. Men many times remain silent about this issue and the WRC's job is to break the silence and gather men together to speak out against this problem. If you are interested in this issue please call Brad at 687-1342. The third speaker at Monday's Healthy Flin Flon meeting was Helen Hunter who spoke on supportive housing for Alzheimer victims and their families. Hunter stated that in the past year the Alzheimer rate has increased from 12.1% to 13.6% in Manitoba in people over 65. There are 60,150 new cases a year. By the year 2011 there will be 475,000 diagnosed and by 2031 there will be 778,000 Ð numbers are doubling every 20 years! These people's needs must be met! Hunter then showed a five minute video on the new facilities that are being built for those suffering with Alzheimer's Disease. People need to be treated with love, dignity and respect. Hunter thanked the community, board, volunteers and all who have helped for "pulling together with this awesome project for our entire community". Upcoming dates: The annual Christmas dinner that is now being taken care of by the Lutheran Church will be held on Monday, December 22. For further information you may call the Food Bank and leave a message. Also, the Food Bank is in dire need of food donations. To date there have been 1,900 people come in for foodstuffs, plus 142 kids are also on the list. That is an increase of 20% over October and November of last year! Many new people are coming in that never have before. The Food Bank is opened from Monday and Wednesday from 10 a.m. till 2 p.m. or you may drop foodstuffs off at the Co-op. Please don't forget those who aren't as fortunate as we are!
