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GUEST COLUMN - LIBERALS
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OVERWHELMING RESPONSE TO HEALTHY EATING FOR SENIORS HANDBOOK |
By Mary Polak, Minister of Healthy Living and Sport
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I'm pleased to say that the Healthy Eating for Seniors handbook in Chinese and Punjabi that we launched June 27, 2008 has been met with an overwhelmingly positive response. In just a few short weeks, all 10,000 Chinese copies and over half of the Punjabi copies have been distributed, are being well used and continue to prompt more requests.
Eating well is important at any age. The Healthy Eating for Seniors is an easy to read handbook that helps older British Columbians to make decisions about healthy eating and healthy lifestyles.
The cultural adaptations of the English handbook have been tailored to meet the specific eating habits and nutritional needs of older adults in the Punjabi and Chinese communities in British Columbia. The Healthy Eating for Seniors handbook gives more of our seniors access to healthy eating information in their own language, supporting them to make healthy choices that will enable them to live healthy, active, independent lives.
The information in the Chinese and Punjabi handbooks has been updated for each culture and includes new stories and recipes. We've ensured that seniors, cultural experts, nutrition experts and health professionals contributed to customizing the content of each handbook to make sure they are relevant and helpful to older Chinese and Punjabi British Columbians.
To meet the growing demand for the Healthy Eating for Seniors handbook in Chinese, we are printing additional copies that will be available in Fall 2008. The Healthy Eating for Seniors handbook in Chinese and Punjabi is available electronically in the interim on the ActNow BC website at http://www.actnowbc.ca/EN/seniors/healthy_eating_for_seniors/.
The Punjabi and English versions of the Healthy Eating for Seniors handbook continue to be available in hard copy through a wide variety of community agencies across the province. Seniors and community organizations in British Columbia can request a free copy by calling the Health and Seniors' Information Line. In Victoria, call (250) 952-1742 or elsewhere in British Columbia, call toll-free 1 (800) 465-4911.
The handbook supports two of government's Great Goals for a Golden Decade, to lead the way in North America in healthy living and physical fitness and to build the best system of support in Canada for seniors.
Copies of the BC HealthGuide are also available in Chinese and Punjabi to individuals and community organizations. For information on how to get a free BC HealthGuide handbook, contact the Health and Seniors' Information Line at 1 (800) 465-4911 or HLTH.health@gov.bc.ca. Visit the BC HealthGuide OnLine at http://www.bchealthguide.org/healthguide.stm.
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