Over 135,000 Singaporeans reached through Healthy Lifestyle Festival SG to adopt healthy living in everyday life
Diabetes prevention and management takes the spotlight at annual flagship event in support of nation-wide effort to tackle the disease
Singapore, 12 November 2016 – Since its inception in 19921, the Healthy Lifestyle Festival SG organised by the Health Promotion Board (HPB) has been an important milestone in Singapore’s drive to make healthy living accessible, natural and effortless for all Singaporeans. In line with the theme “Live Healthy, Get More from Life”, this year’s month-long Healthy Lifestyle Festival SG has brought roving roadshows to heartlands island-wide, including Jurong East, Tampines and Toa Payoh, to show Singaporeans that pursuing a healthy lifestyle is both rewarding and attainable for everyone across everyday environments – within homes, workplaces, schools and neighbourhoods.
Through the weekend roadshows which kicked off on 30 September 2016 and including today’s anchor event at the Singapore Sports Hub and Kallang Wave Mall, over 135,000 Singaporeans have been reached through the Festival. More than 30 partners have also joined in the Festival to feature healthier food and drinks, introduce a variety of physical activities, offer health screening, and provide mental wellbeing, oral health activities and smoking cessation advice.
The anchor event for the Healthy Lifestyle Festival SG, heldon 12 and 13 November 2016, from 11am to 8pm, will offer a host of activities for the whole family including exercise sessions, food samplings, BMI screening, cooking demonstrations and workshops. There will also be engaging educational programmes which include skits to educate the public on mental health and dementia. In support of the nation-wide effort in the War on Diabetes, the anchor event will also feature a dedicated “Let’s Beat Diabetes” zone.
Let’s Beat Diabetes at the Healthy Lifestyle Festival SG Anchor Event
Diabetes is a serious health challenge for Singapore. Today, approximately 400,000 Singaporeans have diabetes and one in three Singaporeans have a lifetime risk of developing diabetes.
The “Let’s Beat Diabetes” zone at the Healthy Lifestyle Festival SG Anchor Event highlights the key pillars on how Singaporeans can beat diabetes including being aware of the potential risks and going for regular screening, eating a healthy diet, adopting an active lifestyle and taking control of your own health. It also aims to rally more Singaporeans to fight against and stay ahead of diabetes by demonstrating that preventing and managing diabetes begins with small lifestyle changes.
Visitors will be engaged through interactive exhibits and game stations to raise awareness on the four key aspects of diabetes such as knowledge, prevention, screening and management. They will also learn about the facts and myths surrounding diabetes, the signs and symptoms of diabetes as well as simple tips to prevent diabetes.
Mr Zee Yoong Kang, Chief Executive Officer of HPB, said “Through the Healthy Lifestyle Festival SG, we want to show Singaporeans that taking small steps to incorporate healthy habits in daily routines goes a long way in preventing chronic diseases like diabetes. To create a supportive environment, we will continue to increase the availability and accessibility of healthy living options to encourage all Singaporeans to take greater ownership of their health and choose to adopt healthier lifestyles.”
As part of a six-month long public engagement exercise and in recognition that everyone has a part to play in the war against diabetes, a special Listening Point will also be set up to gather views on how to encourage healthy living in Singapore to combat the disease. Feedback gathered will contribute to the Diabetes Action Plan that MOH will roll out progressively in 2017.
Introduction of the new Caregiver Access Module for HealthHub
In a continued effort to help Singaporeans to take ownership of their health, HealthHub, Singapore’s first one-stop online health information and services portal and mobile application, provides Singaporeans with easy access to reliable health-related content, key medical records and e-services right at their fingertips. More than 56,000 Singaporeans have downloaded the app to receive essential information and use online services to better manage their health conditions since its launch a year ago.
This year, a new Caregiver Access Module has been introduced in conjunction with the Healthy Lifestyle Festival SG, which enables patients to grant their caregivers access to their personal health and medical records. For instance, these caregivers will have access to patients’ medical records and medical appointments, reducing the time needed for record keeping and appointment tracking so that they can pay more attention to their care receivers. The module was developed following feedback shared by members of the public. This new feature will provide convenience and administrative support to about 210,000 people who regularly provide care for family members and patients.
The HealthHub portal can be accessed at www.healthhub.sg and the new Caregiver Access Module is available online at https://www.healthhub.sg/programmes/106/caregiver-how-to-grant-access. Singaporeans can also access the content and features via the free HealthHub and myHealthHub mobile applications, which can be downloaded from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
About Health Promotion Board
The Health Promotion Board was established as a statutory board under the Ministry of Health, Singapore, in 2001 with the vision of building “A Nation of Healthy People”. The Health Promotion Board aims to empower the people of Singapore to attain optimal health, increase the quality and years of healthy life and prevent illness, disability and premature death. As the key agency overseeing national health promotion and disease prevention programmes, HPB spearheads health education, promotion and prevention programmes as well as creates a health-supportive environment in Singapore. It develops and organises relevant health promotion and disease prevention programmes, reaching out to the healthy, the at-risk and the unhealthy at all stages of life – children, youths, adults and older Singapore residents. Its health promotion programmes include nutrition, mental health, physical activity, smoking control and communicable disease education. HPB also promotes healthy ageing, integrated health screening, and chronic disease education and management.
More information can be found at www.hpb.gov.sg.