The Indian crescent society of Australia (ICSOA) in partnership with Blacktown city library organised a free community health education seminar on childhood obesity prevention on Saturday 22 July 2017 at Max Webber Library, Blacktown, NSW.
This event was organised as part of the “Make Healthy Normal” campaign by Blacktown City Council.
The event was attended by Australians from a diverse background including representatives and office bearers of various community organisations. Cr Susai Benjamin, Cr Kathie Collins and Cr Moninder Singh were guests at this event.
MC for the program was Mr Laurence McDonnell, manager of library services, Blacktown library. He welcomed all guests to this event and gave a brief overview of various community health education programs organised by Blacktown library in the month of July 2017.
This was followed by Cr Kathie Collins who emphasised the role of parents in managing childhood obesity and impact of the high rate of obesity and other chronic diseases in Western Sydney.
Mr Abbas Raza Alvi, President of the Indian Crescent Society of Australia, welcomed everyone with a formal acknowledgement of traditional owners of the land and provided an update of ICSOA activities, mission and future goals.
He explained that the objective and purpose of ICSOA is to integrate and have a collective voice for Indian Muslims in Australia, representing them on Indian platforms in Australia as well as contribute towards the welfare of Muslims in India.
Mr Alvi emphasised that ICSOA aims to accommodate all sections of Muslims of Indian origin including subsequent generations born in Australia regardless of their origin, schools of thought and language and at the same time promote Indian heritage, culture and Urdu language.
He pointed out that ICSOA newsletters have now regularly published with wide circulation and range of topics covered mainly promoting harmony and respect for all faiths and communities.
Dr Habib Bhurawala, General Paediatrician and Head of Paediatric services at Nepean Hospital was key note speaker at the event. He highlighted the ongoing burden of health diseases on Australian community despite advances in medical therapies and cost to the Australian economy.
Dr Habib Bhurawala mentioned that obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease related admissions and death rates in Western Sydney are higher than most other parts of Sydney. He quoted the latest research that one in 4 children in NSW is either overweight or obese. He stated that most Australian children spend more than 2 hours on TV/smart phone/iPad devices every day which exceeds Australian recommendations for maximum screen time of 2 hours daily.
He further stated that excessive time spent in front of TV/smart phone/digital device results in reduced time available for physical activities. He discussed various strategies such as reducing screen time, getting more active and the role of the whole family in tackling childhood obesity. He provided details of different community resources and programs available to families.
Ms Reene Kennedy, paediatric and adult dietician was the second speaker at the event. She discussed the role of a healthy diet especially fruit and vegetables, using water as the main drink instead of juices and soft drinks and balanced diet.
Interactive question answer session followed their talk. This session generated a lot of interest from the audience.
Dr Bhurawala and Ms Kennedy were presented with a certificate of appreciation by ICSOA recognising his contribution towards health care in the presence of counsellors and other ICSOA office bearers.
One of the guests at this event, Cr Susai Benjamin spoke on behalf of The Mayor of Blacktown Council. He thanked speakers and audience attending the event. He explained that Blacktown City council is investing in cycle ways and arranged community health education seminars. He requested community members to provide further suggestions and feedback so further improvements can be undertaken.
Mr Fasihuddin Khan, Secretary of ICSOA, announced two upcoming programs of ICSOA. A Consular camp with Indian consulate and VFS services has been arranged for Indian visa/OCI and other grievances on 19 August at 2.30 pm at Berala Community Centre.
ICSOA-Legal team will organise a community education seminar on common legal issues and rights of citizens on 9 September 2017.
Further details of these programs will be available soon. Anyone wishes to attend these events can register by sending email to [email protected].
Dr Habib Bhurawala is a consultant general paediatrician currently working at Nepean & Blue Mountains hospital. Originally from Gujarat state in India where he completed medical training obtaining MBBS and MD Paediatrics from MS University in Baroda, India. He moved to Australia to gain further training in Paediatrics. He obtained Fellowship of The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (FRACP) in 2008. He has keen interest in medical education. He regularly teaches medical students at School of Medicine, University of Sydney where he has appointment as clinical lecturer. He was awarded Mentor of the year prize by The Royal Australasian College of Physicians in 2013 which is highest annual award for teaching/mentoring awarded by College of Physicians in Australia and New Zealand. He was finalist in Australian Medical Association-NSW supervisor of the year award in 2014. He has been recipient of several teaching awards by The University of Sydney and University of Western Sydney School of Medicine.