New series to focus on diabetes prevention

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A new series scheduled to air on APTN later this year will take a look at how Aboriginal organizations across the country are working to prevent diabetes in their communities.

The Sweetness In Life: A Diabetes Story will air in 13 half-hour segments, with the first broadcast planned for November, to coincide with National Diabetes Month.

Award winning film producer Doug Cuthand is producing the series.

"The whole idea is to raise awareness," Cuthand said. "To show people that it's not a death sentence if they get diabetes. And that exercise and lifestyle-lifestyle changes when you've got it. But also we're hoping that people don't get it.

"The real crime is these young kids, gnawing on potato chips and pop and stuff like this, and you know that it's not good for them. In the old days, our people had healthy diets. Even when they were kids, they ate moose meat, stuff like that, fish, and birds. We have to deal with the issue, which is diabetes, when people have it. But we have to have those people turn around and look at their own kids, and say, look, we can prevent this thing, too. So public awareness is the big issue here."

The series will use a news magazine format, Cuthand explained.

"We'll have a host and a hostess, and we'll have them interviewing people, and demonstrating nutrition and exercising and stuff like that. That'll be done in the studio, and then that'll be augmented with pieces of community stuff. And what we're doing is we have another person visiting different communities, that person is Tasha Hubbard. She'll be, not a reporter, as much as a visitor. We've got a whole list of different projects that are happening all across Canada. So she'll go to a community and she'll meet the people and film the project. And the idea is that they tell their story, and we spread that word on to other communities, on what they can do.

"There's so many different things, there's walking clubs, there's cooking classes, there's exercise groups. All kinds of different things, besides treating it as a disease that you have to fix with needles and pills. It's really a lifestyle change."

Film crews have already visited three communities to record their efforts to fight diabetes -filming a healthy cooking class in Saskatoon, children enjoying physical activity and movement at a school at Sturgeon Lake First Nation, and a walking club on Ochapowace First Nation -and so far, community response to the project has been great.

"We've found just enormous support out there," Cuthand said. "People are opening up their communities to us and we're getting a lot of calls. It's really good. It's really positive. When you see something like that happening, you know we're going to be able to whip this disease, I think."

Organizations including the Canadian Diabetes Association and the National Aboriginal Diabetes Association have been providing the production with a lot of information about the various projects going on across the country. As well, Cuthand is inviting people with stories to share about how their community is working to deal with diabetes to get in touch with him by phone at 477-4572, or by e-mail at d.cuthand@shaw.ca.

"There's interesting stories out there. Let us know."